


Opal Ocean

by aknightchild



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Smut, Frottage, Heavy Angst, Jaskier | Dandelion Whump, M/M, Non-Human Jaskier | Dandelion, Oral Sex, Prince Jaskier | Dandelion, merman Jaskier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:54:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 52,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26556940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aknightchild/pseuds/aknightchild
Summary: Think of me when you look to the sea.Julian, the prince of the Great Sea, the white-tailed merman, or the outcast of the kingdom. Jaskier has had many names and no choice of who they make him out to be. He's preparing to become king, but with those closest to him fighting it, the attention of a human girl, and a certain famous white-haired witcher all in the mix, it won't be that easy.Feeling arise, resolves tested, and hearts are broken on a journey Jaskier was never prepared to take.He just has to hope that he'll make it out with at least a piece of his heart left.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 11
Kudos: 137
Collections: Witcher Big Bang





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This lengthy piece was a lot of work! I would like to bestow my undying gratitude to the two people that made this story look and sound beautiful!
> 
> Thank you so much for betaing for me [handwrittenhello](https://archiveofourown.org/users/handwrittenhello/pseuds/handwrittenhello) Without you this story wouldn't have made much sense! <3
> 
> And oh my goodness the art!! I nearly cried when I saw it! I'll never be able to explain how grateful I am! <3  
> Please, please go check out [bookscorpion](https://www.pillowfort.social/bookscorpion) on Pillowfort and send your love!

Out of all of the things he most desired, an overcast day was the most frequent to return to him. It gave him peace of mind that he could go to the surface without being caught by either his kind or theirs. On these days, he would usually find himself sitting out on a rock, enjoying the way the sun hid away from his sensitive skin and how the salty breeze carried his voice to the shore.

Now and then, his song would draw out brave and curious strangers despite the gloomy weather, which gave him a special sort of thrill. It was the risk of danger and the possibility of friendship that would draw him back to land time and time again. He told himself that he could handle a single person, that they would hardly be a threat. Today it brought out a lovely fair-haired woman and he watched in amusement as she waded through the waves, totally disregarding her long skirt. Usually, humans never got this close.

The first words past her lips as soon as she reached him made him chuckle. “Are you a siren?”

“Now, do I appear to have wings?”

She shook her head as her eyes glided over him, lingering the longest on his lower half. He flicked his tail against the water, splashing her a bit, and she squealed at the coldness of it.

“Did you find something interesting, dear?” he asked as he grinned at her.

“You’re different from the other merpeople I’ve heard tales about. I thought your kind were supposed to be green?”

“I guess I’m just special.”

“May I touch it?”

“What exactly do you want to touch?” His grin took an impish turn as he watched her cheeks redden.

“Your tail.”

He extended his long, shimmery tail out to the girl in silent approval.

“It looks like mother of pearl,” she murmured as the tips of her fingers slid across his scales.

He let out a hum of agreement before questioning, “So, what’s your name, darling?”

“Irena. May I ask yours?

“You can call me Jaskier.”

“As in Buttercup?” she asked as her eyebrow shot up in disbelief.

“It’s a nickname my mother gave me a long time ago. I prefer it to my birth name.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you then, Jaskier.”

“The same goes for me, Irena,” he responded, trying out her name as they smiled softly at each other. 

“Why is it that I’ve never seen any more of those like you on the surface like this before?”

The sound of muffled voices in the distance had Jaskier peering around his shoulder to spot a ship coming towards the harbor. He sighed at the sight, knowing that he now needed to make a quick retreat. 

He shifted his attention back to Irena and nodded towards the boat. “It’s not safe for us most of the time, for more reasons than one.”

With that, he slipped back into the sea, but he could still make out her words even as the water rushed up to greet him. “Will I ever see you again?”

He allowed only his head to break through the surface. “Just come back here on a cloudy day, and I should be around.”

Before another word could be exchanged, he disappeared yet again and darted off into the deep. He swam at such a speed that, were he visible from the surface, he would have looked like nothing more than a shining white streak against the darkness. Rolling around within the currents that propelled him even faster through the sea, he swerved past the other fish as he made his way home. 

Jaskier slowed when he caught sight of the coral caves his fellow merpeople called their homes. On either side of the wide trench that made up the kingdom, the caves sat in sporadic rows and stacks in varying colors. They each emitted a subtle glow thanks to the other sea life that resided among them. In a way, the light from the kingdom compared to the rest of the sea, reminded him of the moon in a starless sky. He made sure to make his pace appear more leisurely as he made his way to the largest formation of the reef. He had often wondered how long it had taken their ancestors to convince that much coral to grow in such a way. 

Jaskier didn’t have much time to admire the grandeur of the ornate palace he called home, not when he caught the sounds of the meeting he was supposed to be attending. Meaning he was late, _again_.

He knew that his father, Aldric, was an understanding merman, and at worst, he would receive a light reprimand to save face for the both of them. Other than that, he would get out of it fairly unscathed. 

Jaskier glided around the corner as silently as he could, but of course, his brother Valdo noticed him instantly, his expression morphed into disgust as he rolled his eyes. Jaskier resisted the urge to make a face back at him as he took his place beside their father. 

“Julian, you’ve made it just in time. We’re just getting started,” his father remarked with a knowing smile before returning his focus to his advisors.

Jaskier returned the smile even as he heard Valdo mutter, “This must be some sort of miracle.”

Jaskier was fully prepared to shoot back his own barbed retort, but he held his tongue as one of the advisors began to speak. 

“Sir, one of our newest krakens refuses to follow orders. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this?”

“Do we have any clue as to why?”

“None, your majesty.”

Aldric frowned as he nodded in understanding. “Have the trainers do what they can to discover the creature’s wants and needs, and we’ll take it from there.”

“I’ll see right to it.” The advisor bowed and made a swift exit. 

Jaskier would never admit out loud that his thoughts had begun to drift off soon after that, but his attention was soon caught once more when the topic of discussion turned to him. 

“The matter of Prince Julian finding a mate is still unresolved. Should we start searching for potential matches to aid him, Your Highness?”

At that, a chill raced down Jaskier’s spine, all the way to the tips of his tail fins. The royal court had been discussing the issue of his betrothal since the moment he’d turned sixteen. Not much had changed in the years after that. 

“I have full faith that he’ll pick someone when the time is right, and what a lucky girl she will be,” Aldric stated as he patted his son on the shoulder with a warm chuckle. “I think he should continue to enjoy his youth while he still can. We can worry about those responsibilities when I’m closer to the end of my rule. Let me tell you, friends, that won’t be for quite a while.”

“My apologies, sir. We all just want to make sure that it’s as smooth of a transition as possible for both the prince and the rest of the kingdom.” 

Jaskier let out a halfhearted laugh at that and instantly regretted it when his father’s dark green eyes drifted in his direction. 

“Is there something you’d like to say, Julian?”

“Is having a mate truly necessary when it comes to ruling?” Jaskier questioned, trying to mask his resentment as curiosity, since he was unable to keep his words from bubbling up past his lips.

Valdo chose to butt in right after to point out, “It’s tradition. Besides, all of this can’t be run just by you alone.”

“Isn’t that what the advisors are here for?”

“Having a queen will also ensure that our royal lineage can go on after us.”

Jaskier waved off his brother’s dramatic behavior and decided to poke a bit of fun at him. “As if you or any of our other siblings can’t take care of that for me.”

Valdo let out a frustrated sort of groan, but their father held up his hand to hush them. 

“Boys, now isn’t the time to squabble,” he chided them, before focusing back on the other merpeople around them. “Is there anything else?”

“That seems to be it for today, Your Grace.” 

The moment the meeting ended, everyone took off to take care of their respective duties, leaving Jaskier alone with his brother. And the look in Valdo’s eye told Jaskier that he was far from done with him. 

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re avoiding finding a mate because you know that no one in the entire sea would have you?”

“Oh, trust me, plenty of them would have me, but I’m not interested in those that are power-hungry. I refuse to marry someone that would put me in mind of you.”

“Did you know that, in the human world of royalty, the eldest children are always the next to gain the throne, and not the youngest? That would mean I would be the one first in line to be king, instead of you.”

“Well, we aren’t a part of their world, are we?” Jaskier snapped as he spun around, intent on leaving this pointless argument behind.

“I just think it might be time we learned a thing or two from them,” he called after him as Jaskier disappeared from sight.

“That’s rich coming from you,” he muttered under his breath, feeling his irritation build.

If his brother could see past his own arrogance, he might notice that the last thing Jaskier wanted was to be king. 

It seemed that the Gods were on his side when, a few days later, another hazy sky greeted him when he snuck back to the surface. Along with that stroke of luck, he was pleasantly surprised to find Irena sitting out on the rock where he had first met her. Jaskier made sure to float just out of her line of sight as her eyes roamed over the waves on the western horizon. 

He waited until he was right up behind her before making his presence known by softly whispering in her ear, “What are we searching for, Irena?”

She nearly slipped off of the rock into the water as she jumped and whipped around to face him. Without a second of hesitation, he reached out to grasp her arm to steady her, and she gasped softly at the contact.

“Jaskier! You actually came back.”

He chuckled. “I am a creature of my word.”

She giggled at that as her gaze flitted down to where his hand still rested on the bend of her elbow. “You’re so much colder than I expected.”

“I believe it’s due to me living where the sun can’t touch me. It’s about as cold down there as it is in your winters.”

“That sounds awful. How far down there do your kind live?”

“Far enough that it would always be pitch black, at least for human eyes, if it weren't for all the sea angels we have living among us.”

“What are sea angels?”

“They’re sort of hard to explain, but they glow. We provide them with sea butterflies to eat, and in return, they give us light.”

“Is everything down there titled with the word ‘sea’ in front of it?”

“My kind don’t have names for those things in the common tongue. As far as I know, they just have the names my mother gave them.”

“You sound like you’re very close to her.”

Jaskier gave her the best smile he could muster, knowing that it was probably still a weak one. He dreaded the time that he knew would come, when Irena would undoubtedly ask more about his mother. To this day, he wasn’t at all fond of that topic. 

His worries fell to the wayside when he caught sight of another human, making their way along the shoreline. This one was quite bulky, with two swords, and an angry expression that he could see even from a distance. This human didn’t look like anything Jaskier would want to come across while alone.

“Who is that?” Jaskier questioned as he tucked himself behind the large rock, grateful for the sudden distraction despite his worry

Irena’s face twisted into a scowl as her gaze followed his, landing on the white-haired stranger. “Oh, that’s Geralt of Rivia. He’s a witcher, hunting for a siren that’s been terrorizing the coast.”

“Does that mean that the siren might be close by right now?”

“It could be if he’s down here,” Irena murmured as unease bled into her tone.

Jaskier had a feeling that he should tell her to head home with that kind of threat looming about, but then he fretted that she might not be safe making that trip back by herself. 

“You should ask him whether he’d be willing to walk you home if something like that is lurking around here,” he suggested as he searched for any strange movement among the dense clouds.

He then peered back over at Irena when she hadn’t replied, finding her giving him a look of disgust that didn’t suit her pretty face.

“Even if he would somehow agree to the request, there’s no way I’d go anywhere with someone like him.”

“Why is that?”

“Because he’s a monster. He kills things indiscriminately. It doesn’t matter if they’re things like you and me.”

Jaskier felt a small pang in his chest at her statement. He wondered if he was ever going to meet anyone that didn’t see him as other or something to be a bit leery of. He then reminded himself of what his mother used to tell him as a boy: that just because the world couldn’t see him for what he was, it didn’t take it away. That he was more than what they could see with their eyes. He chose to simply let it go because he knew that Irena hadn’t meant to offend him. 

Instead, he decided to ask more about the man she had referred to as the witcher, whatever that was, because he needed to find a way to convince her to get out of there safely. “How do you know that he’s done anything like that?”

“They all do. Every single one of those mutants are highly trained and magically enhanced murderers.”

“Have you seen them do that?” Jaskier questioned with wide eyes. There were now two potential threats close by.

“No, but there are too many tales of what they’ve done for it not to be true.”

“But have you ever considered that might be all it is? Just stories?”

A series of emotions passed over her face then. Annoyance, confusion, and lastly, as she glanced over his shoulder, fear. Jaskier arched a brow at her reaction, and then he heard the ear-piercing shriek of a siren, making his own body lock up momentarily in fear. Just by the sound, he could tell that it was close. He then grabbed Irena to drag her into the sea. Underwater the tip of the siren’s tail whipped past them, so he took the girl deeper down, but he couldn’t keep her there for long. Not only would she drown, but the siren would be diving down there to find them soon enough. 

Jaskier decided that he had just one option. He opened his mouth to let out a humming sort of cry, hoping that help would come quickly enough to save them both. Jaskier wasted no time swimming himself and Irena closer to the beach. 

As soon as they surfaced, he shouted, “Go to the witcher! Get the both of you out of here!”

“What about you?” she demanded as she clung to him. 

“I’ll be fine, I promise! Just go!”

The urgency in his voice must have convinced her to listen to him as she scrambled out of the tide, shouting after the witcher. A subtle vibration made its way through the sea, soon followed by a guttural groaning. Jaskier grinned at the noise as he bolted back under and gave another series of calls. He made sure that his distressed pleas were as plain as possible as he frantically searched for the approaching rumble. He nearly cheered when he spotted the shadowy mass speeding towards him. 

Speaking hurried commands in Elder, he pointed upwards, “Up there! Get rid of the siren! Keep it away from the humans!”

Jaskier risked surfacing again as the kraken burst out of the sea, drawing a surprised screech from the siren circling overhead. She barely had a moment to dodge out of the grasp of one of the kraken’s lengthy tentacles, but the white-haired man took advantage of her distraction as he shot a crossbow bolt at her. The bolt managed to clip her wing enough to anger her; her face then took on its true form. Her once-radiant upper body morphed into something deep blue and silver, while her mouth filled with needle-like teeth. She let out a scream that was almost human as she turned her focus onto the witcher. Jaskier’s stomach rolled when he saw Irena cowering just behind the other man with nothing to defend herself with. 

“Keep it from the shore!” Jaskier commanded the kraken, loud enough for the witcher’s yellow eyes to flick towards him for a split second. 

Once again, the kraken extended its limbs to the siren barreling at the humans. This time, the kraken knocked her off course long enough for Irena to take off for the dunes. The witcher unsheathed a sword from behind his back in one fluid motion as the now-enraged siren moved to attack him a second time. The large man swung the weapon at her with a powerful swoop and Jaskier feared that he had missed as she flew past him, appearing to avoid the blow. Then, as she rounded back on him, Jaskier caught a glimpse of the stream of dark blood just beneath her ribs. 

He prepared himself to instruct the kraken’s next move, but it was already reaching out for the siren on its own and smacked her to the sandy earth with a harsh thump. It only disoriented her for a minute, but that was long enough for the witcher to strike down at her and cut off the end of the siren’s tail. 

“Shut her up, or she’ll bring in help!” Jaskier ordered as the creature began to shriek, unsure if he was speaking in Elder or not as panic began to cloud his thoughts.

Either the kraken understood him, or it acted on its own accord as it struck out at the siren, at last wrapping a tentacle around her writhing body. The siren latched her maw tightly onto the thick tentacle as it tried to silence her, and an ear-ringing roar came from the larger beast. Jaskier couldn’t figure out why it recoiled so swiftly as its arm whipped up into the air, but it became clear when he cast a confused look back at the beach. The siren had been decapitated, and her blood was soaking the sand crimson; nearby was the sliced off tip of the kraken’s limb. 

Knowing what was about to come, Jaskier shouted, “Stand down! It was an accident! He didn’t intend to harm you!”

The kraken bellowed so loud that it drowned out all of his desperate screaming, so he turned his attention to the witcher, who was still standing in the same spot as before. Jaskier let out a noise of outrage, wondering just what the man was doing and then saw that he was simply gaping up at the thrashing tentacles.

“Get the fuck out of here!” the merman yelled, wanting to keep Irena safe and not wanting to witness the other man be torn apart. “At least get the girl out of here, for her sake!”

That seemed to break the white-haired man out of his trance-like state as he hurried over to Irena, but Jaskier was shocked when she began to scream as the witcher approached her. Jaskier couldn’t hear what the man was saying to her, but he held out his hands and slowed his movements as if he was walking up to a skittish animal. Irena shook her head furiously as she took several hesitant steps backward. He couldn’t understand why she still glared at the other man with disgust after he had risked his life for her. He reasoned with himself that she was probably still frightened after watching him cut off the head of something that nearly looked human. 

The longer the two of them stood there, the more Irena reminded him of cornered prey. One of the kraken’s arms slammed back down onto the beach, causing a cloud of sand to rise and obscure his view of them. They didn’t have time to waste arguing over this, not when another tentacle shot out of the sea and followed the lead of the other appendage. It landed only inches from where they stood. It was only a matter of time before one of those limbs wrapped around one of their frozen figures. Jaskier knew that Irena had her reasons for being scared, but now was far from the time to be refusing help. 

“Irena! You need to leave with him, please!” Jaskier begged, but then out of the corner of his eye; the kraken did something that surprised him. 

It began to slither back into the water; Jaskier wondered if it had decided to back off. That hope faded as soon as several familiar faces emerged from the sea with tritons extended to force the huge creature away from the shore. They were the merpeople in charge of training the krakens, and among them were King Aldric and Valdo. 

“This isn’t good,” Jaskier muttered to himself as he glanced back and forth from the humans to his father and brother.

“What happened here, Julian?” Valdo demanded as his gaze flitted around the chaos surrounding his brother. Then when he left their father’s side, he lowered his voice to a hiss, “You got one of our best krakens injured!”

Irena peered around the witcher with wide eyes at the sound of new voices. When she spotted the other merpeople, she skirted past the man blocking her like she hadn’t just been terrified of him. Jaskier sent her a pleading look for her not to come any closer, but she kept inching out into the water without even sparing him a second glance. 

“Why are the others all green?” she questioned quietly as she gaped at the rest of the merpeople. 

Valdo peered over at Irena as he nodded in understanding, and a tight smile curled his lips. “You were trying to use it to protect the humans from that siren, weren’t you?”

“I didn’t have any other choice,” Jaskier argued, even though he knew that his reasoning wasn’t going to be accepted.

Valdo let out a scoffing sort of laugh. “Of course you did. You could have stayed out of human matters like we are all meant to.”

“They would’ve died.”

“And how is that your problem?”

That’s when Destiny decided that Irena should speak directly to him. “Jaskier, is everything alright? You look like you’re about to be sick.”

He knew that she probably couldn’t understand what his brother was saying, but that didn’t stop his gut from twisting as his worries grew. He didn’t like the way his brother’s grin morphed into something slightly wicked, like he was up to something. 

“So, it’s safe to say that she knows you, since she calls you by that nickname of yours.”

“This is only the second time we’ve met.”

“Well, she seems quite taken with you regardless of that. Not to mention, there shouldn’t have even been a first time.”

“I don’t see what’s wrong with interacting with just one of them. What harm can a single girl do?”

“You say that now, until one of them traps you in a net or gets a hook in you. Mark my words—that one girl can bring more trouble than you can imagine. Your mother was only a single girl, and everyone can recall all the problems she brought to our kingdom. I would advise you not to doubt the power of an individual and what they can cause.”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Jaskier muttered with a roll of his eyes, all the while hating that Valdo had a point, before softly adding, “I doubt anything like that will happen again.”

“My mother would boil the sea before she would even think of allowing something like that to come about again.”

“We’re all well aware,” Jaskier mumbled under his breath. 

“I doubt our father would be too enthused to have you repeat his own history. So I have a feeling that he won’t overlook this the way he usually does with the rest of your fickle and childish actions. You should make her go before he has a chance to come over here.”

Jaskier openly glared at him for his remarks, but he still turned to Irena to say, “I think you should go home. There might be more sirens on the way after all the screaming that one just did.”

“Do you still expect me to take him with me?” she questioned as she warily eyed the witcher, who was wiping the siren’s blood from his blade. 

Jaskier could’ve sworn that he saw a pained expression pass through the man’s golden eyes, but it was gone quicker than it had come. 

The merman shook his head, for more reasons than one. “As long as you hurry, I think you should be fine on your own.”

Her eyes went from Jaskier to Valdo several times, clearly aware that something was going on between the two of them. Thankfully, she only nodded and began to hurry away. 

“Obedient for a human, isn’t she?” Valdo observed with a tone dripping in mockery. 

“Leave her be,” Jaskier warned as his jaw tightened, and his tail fin began to create bubbles while it whipped back and forth. 

“You know what? I think I get it now. This is a sad little attempt to replace your mother in some way.”

Jaskier’s eyebrows furrowed. “What are you talking about? I’m friends with her because she happens to be one of the nicest beings I’ve met in a long time. Nothing more.”

Valdo nodded as if he understood exactly what he meant, but the words that came out of his mouth proved that he truly didn’t. “Which is just like how it used to be with your mother. We all know that she was the only one that saw some sort of worth in the strange creature that you are. Alas, she was just like the rest of the human race, treacherous and flighty. When was the last time you saw her, Julian? Five years ago?”

“Not everything is about her.”

“But this clearly is. You aren’t that hard to figure out. You’re trading out one human for another in hopes that this one might stay and actually care about you.”

Jaskier leaped at his brother without thinking, tackling him with enough force for a cloud of wet sand to stir up. 

“That clearly hit a sore spot,” Valdo grumbled, and yet he still managed to laugh despite the moment of pain.

“And you’re just jealous because something like me is going to receive the crown instead of you,” Jaskier growled as Valdo harshly shoved him off. A moment later, they were circling each other like hungry sharks. “You’ve dreamed of being king for as long as you can remember, and then along I came, a half-breed, to steal your chance at the throne. Valdo, you’re easier to see through than freshwater. At least I can move on from what angers me; you’ve been holding this grudge since the day I was born.”

Valdo lunged at him this time, his claw-like nails slashing out at Jaskier’s face. He only missed because Jaskier whipped his tail out to push Valdo back. Jaskier studied the rage in the other merman’s eyes; he was clearly getting to Valdo, too.

“Even if you do become king by some ill chance of fate—” Valdo growled as his gaze darted around, planning his next attack, “—the merpeople of the kingdom will never respect you. You aren’t one of us. You barely even look like us, and that’s only because you have a tail. They won’t ever readily follow your lead, because you’ll never truly be a part of our kind.”

Jaskier held his tongue on owning up to the fact that he didn’t even desire to become king. He wasn’t about to give his brother that kind of knowledge to use against him or risk him telling their father.

So instead, he chose to use his silver tongue to his advantage. “It’s a good thing that you won’t have much of a choice on that matter. Once the crown is on my head, you’ll have no choice but to follow my command, and if you think for a second that I’ll continue to tolerate the way you speak to me, you are sadly mistaken.”

“And just what would you intend to do to me?”

“Exile is always an option.”

In the blink of an eye, Valdo shot over to one of the kraken trainers and wrenched the triton out of his hands. He then wheeled the weapon through the water as if it were a sword right at Jaskier. 

The three daggered points were merely a breath away from Jaskier’s throat as Valdo warned, “Threaten me like that again.”

“What do you two think you’re doing?” King Aldric demanded as he darted over to them and pushed Jaskier just behind him. “Valdo, have you lost your mind? That could’ve killed your brother.”

The way Valdo’s eyes flashed at that statement told Jaskier that he didn’t mind that idea all that much, which made Jaskier more nervous than he’d ever willingly admit out loud. 

“Did you know that this was all caused by Julian trying to protect a human girl?” Valdo pressed, completely ignoring the King’s own question. 

It seemed to do the trick, though; Aldric turned to his other son, asking, “Julian, is that true? It’s incredibly dangerous for any merperson to involve themselves with humans, especially for a young prince.”

Jaskier’s nerves were raw at this point, so without much thought, he muttered, “As if that ever stopped you.”

King Aldric’s eyebrows shot up, his expression becoming stern as he said, “I was young and prideful back then, not unlike yourself. I must admit that I got lucky with your mother because she was already so unlike other humans. It was a gift that she didn’t see any benefit in betraying me for profit or anything else of the sort. It’s the kind of risk I don’t wish to watch you take. That being said, I hereby forbid you from seeing the human girl again, at least for the sake of your own safety.”

Jaskier saw Valdo grinning wickedly out of the corner of his eye; it was exactly what he had wanted to happen. He knew that there was no chance of him winning this argument with his father, not after what he had just witnessed here. 

He sighed softly before nodding. “Very well, father.”

“And…” the king continued, appearing torn. “You must stay away from the surface from now on.” 

Jaskier gave another nod as his stomach sank like a stone. It wasn’t just because he would miss his newly acquired friend, but it was also because he knew that he would struggle to avoid going to the world above theirs. He felt as if he belonged to the surface as much as he did to the sea. Staying away seemed nearly impossible to him, but what choice did he have now?


	2. Chapter 2

The time Jaskier spent drifting around the castle after that put him in a forlorn daze. On top of that, whenever he made an effort to go out among the other merpeople, he would become horribly aware of the way most would avoid him, or, at best, put on only a semblance of courtesy. He was loath to admit it, but it was abundantly clear that Valdo had been right, which made his mood even gloomier. He truly felt like an outsider within his own world, and with each passing day, the thought of just disappearing from the kingdom became ever stronger. He had considered it plenty of times before and daydreamed about what it might be like to strike out on his own. Who would he choose to be if he were the master of his own fate? What would be his heart’s desire to follow after if he weren’t stuck here?

He loved to go exploring, even with everyone around him telling him how dangerous it was. Sadly, he was well aware that the royal guard wouldn’t have a hard time finding him again if he were just to swim wherever the current took him. So that plan was out of the question. The only other thing he could think he truly loved was singing and telling stories, but he doubted that it would take him anywhere.

Several weeks later, Jaskier eventually got sick of tolerating the pleasantries that were expected of him as a prince, so he decided to make his way to the outskirts of their settlement. He slowly became aware that the further he went, the eerier the lighting became. It then dawned on him that the sea angels here were flickering and dimmer than the ones he was used to. He frowned at the sight; had they been kept here on purpose because of that?

The longer he watched them, the more they reminded him of winking starlight. It made him recall the times when he used to visit his mother on land. They’d decided early on that nightfall would be the best time for them to meet. Quite a bit of it was spent staring up at the sky as she taught him the languages of the humans. His chest began to ache the more he thought of her, and yet again, he wondered where she had gone.

Something then caught his eye, thankfully pulling him away from his memories. He watched one of the sea angels whizz around in circles. He cocked an eyebrow at the sight; he had never seen one of those tiny creatures move that fast before, and the patterns it made puzzled him even more. It suddenly paused beside his colorless tail, and the blinking of its body took on a configuration of sorts. 

“Can you control your light?” Jaskier asked with an amused laugh. Had he gotten lonely enough to talk to one of these tiny critters?

He hushed, though, when the angel began to flash rapidly, as if it were answering him.

“Um, alright. Let’s try this, blink twice for yes and once for no. Okay?”

The sea angel lit up twice.

Jaskier let out a more enthused laugh at that before asking, “Can all of your kind understand me?”

Another yes. 

He turned to the others then. “It’s so good to meet you all. This job has to be awfully boring, so thank you for what you do.”

The sea angel he had first spoken to suddenly zipped in front of his face and bumped its little body up against his nose. As soon as he looked at it, the creature blinked once. It was telling him no. 

“Should I not speak to the others?”

He received a single flash. 

“Do they even like to talk to merpeople?”

Yes.

“So, they just don’t want to talk to me?” he asked, feeling his momentarily cheery mood lessen a bit. 

No.

Jaskier let out a long sigh. “I can’t say I’m surprised by that.”

Before he could turn to leave, the tiny sea angel swam around his head at a dizzying speed, and then it twirled its way through his hair, tickling his scalp. Next, it shot down to his tail, its light flickering so fast it nearly appeared to be a steady glow. The sea angel began to flit back and forth, making his scales reflect something like rainbows. It took him a moment to figure out that it was saying yes over and over as it went all around him. 

“I’m guessing this means you like me, though?”

There were then two bright gleams of light in reply. 

“Well, you’re the first one around here to say something like that willingly.”

Jaskier was unsure of what to do when the little sea angel began to follow him out of the area and back to the castle after that. He was truly astounded by the speed such a small creature could manage with ease alongside him. Even though he knew that he should tell it to return to its post, he couldn’t find it in himself to push away something that actually seemed to enjoy his company. Just to be careful though, he swam at an angle that would make the glowing fish harder to spot until he made it inside the castle.

“Just try to stay out of sight,” Jaskier mumbled, and then, as if on cue, his stepmother, Queen Edyta, came around the corner. 

He nearly let out a relieved sigh when the sea angel buried itself in the thickest part of his hair before the mermaid’s eyes found him. He just hoped that it wasn’t glowing at that moment. Not only would he risk being caught in a lie, but he’d also look ridiculous doing it. 

“Hello, Julian,” she greeted him formally, as his younger sister, Cirilla, popped her head around the corner and smiled at him. 

“Good afternoon, Your Highness,” Jaskier responded, knowing better than even to humor the idea of calling her mother— not that he would want to anyway. “Hello, Ciri.”

“Hi, Jaskier. What have you been up to today? I think this is the earliest I’ve ever seen you come home in a long time.”

“Oh, you know, I’ve just been drifting through the kingdom,” he explained, for once telling the truth, or at least part of it. 

The queen gave him a tight-lipped smile that didn’t quite touch her eyes as she nodded. “I’m glad to hear that you’re following your father’s orders.”

“I try my best.”

She nodded, bade him farewell, and motioned for Ciri to follow her. His sister sent him one last wave before swimming after her mother. As soon as they were out of sight, Jaskier’s shoulders sagged in relief over the close call. Jaskier adored his younger sister— she was probably the sweetest mermaid around—but he remembered a time right before she was born, where he’d hoped that she would’ve been a boy. That way, all of the weight of rule would have been off his shoulders, and Valdo could’ve had someone else's life to threaten. It was a selfish thought, but a tiny part of him still managed to feel that way. 

Now that he was sure they were out of earshot, he murmured to the sea angel, “Good job up there, little buddy.”

He slowly made his way to the safety of the alcove he called his, before saying at a normal volume, “Okay, you can come back out.”

A moment later, the sea angel popped back into his line of sight.

“So, are you a boy?”

One blink, so no.

“Oh, you’re a girl, then?”

Also no.

“Ah! I nearly forgot. Sea angels are both, aren’t you?”

That finally got him a yes.

“My apologies. Do you have a name?”

No. Of course not.

“Would you want one?”

Yes! Yes!

Jaskier chuckled, “Alright, let me think about it.”

Then, after quite a few name suggestions, he offered, “How about Tasi? My mother used to call the sea that sometimes, but I don’t know where she got it from.”

That got him a definite yes.

Several months later, Jaskier and Tasi had come up with a way for the sea angel to actually hold conversations with him through Tasi’s ability to control their light. It turned out the little creature was almost as talkative as Jaskier. 

‘Happy Hatchday, Jaskier!’ Tasi blinked rapidly, swimming in figure eights as soon as the merman woke up. 

He groaned as soon as he understood Tasi’s frantic flashes; today, he was eighteen. This would be the year he’d have to find a mate. It was custom for every merperson to pair off at eighteen because it was the time in their lives that was perfect for breeding. The thought of it made his skin crawl; he wasn’t even sure that he wanted kids just yet, or that he would want to subject them to the life of a royal. 

He hated his hatchday; every year, it was the same series of events. There would be a party held in his honor that he never felt a part of, which would go on longer than he cared for. He used to look forward to only one thing, but it had been tarnished not long ago. After the usual hatchday festivities, he would visit his mother, and they would sing and play in the waves until the sun crept over the horizon. He would forget about whatever had happened back at the kingdom’s party, like the way the other merfolk would stare at him or even outright avoid him, at an event that was meant to celebrate his hatching. He would forget about the way Queen Edyta’s cold eyes would follow him more than usual during the party. He would only feel happiness and love on the nights of his hatchday when he was with his mother. 

Now, years later, he continued to go back to the grotto they had always met in, sing those same songs, and hope that she just might decide to return. Even if it was a melancholy thing to do, he still preferred it to the rest of the events.

“Jask! It’s time to get up!” Ciri’s voice drifted in before she did. She looked like a vision with all the striped shells strung through her pale seafoam green hair. “The party is going to start without you.

“What a tragedy that would be,” he mumbled to himself, but as soon as her eyes met his with a look of curiosity, Jaskier smiled at her warmly. “I’ll be ready in just a moment.”

“Is Tasi coming with you? I don’t think anyone would mind.” 

It had taken Ciri only a week to catch a glimpse of Tasi and Jaskier sneaking around the castle. Soon after that, the three of them were all spending time together because Ciri was fascinated by the adorable little sea angel’s friendly disposition. It turned out that she had tried to talk to the others for a long time now because she had a feeling that they knew what she was saying. Then, not too long after that, the whole castle knew about Jaskier’s odd little pal. It was impossible to keep things secret with Ciri involved, since the Queen was constantly tailing her daughter.

“Of course they are. Who else is going to keep me company when you swim off with your pack of friends?”

She chuckled, “I don’t have that many friends.”

“Oh hush, more than half the kingdom adores you. It makes me want to tell the royal counselors to make you the one to receive the crown, instead of me. At least people would be pleased then.”

That made Ciri’s amused expression fall, and Jaskier immediately regretted his words. He needed to remember not to make those kinds of remarks around her.

She gave him a sad little smile. “You should go easier on yourself, Jaskier. I know you’ll be a great king, and soon everyone else will see it that way too.”

“I truly hope so, Ciri. I’ll meet you out there in a bit; go warm up the crowd for me a bit while you’re out there.”

Ciri nodded before slipping back out of sight. Jaskier let out a soft sigh soon after she was gone. He then peered over at Tasi, asking, “Are you ready to watch this day turn into a shipwreck?”

Just as Jaskier had expected, the party was an absolute drag. Part of him wondered if large gatherings just weren’t his thing, and that was why he could never manage to have a good time. He did his best to save face and tried to seem like he was enjoying himself, but as soon as the castle was quiet again, he felt himself actually relax.

He waited until he was certain that everyone was asleep before even attempting to sneak out. Tasi lit up in question, asking where he was heading.

“I’m going up to the surface,” he whispered. “I think you just should stay here since I’ll be spending the rest of the night on the shore.”

‘I can go along with you until you reach the surface, and then I’ll just nap somewhere close by. You shouldn’t be alone on your hatchday!’

Jaskier grinned fondly at the sea angel before shrugging, “Alright then, just try not to glow until we’re out of the kingdom.”

‘Got it.’

The pink glow that emanated from Tasi’s body winked out then, and they swam ahead of Jaskier before pausing, as if to urge him on. Thankfully, everyone seemed to have been tired out by the celebration—not a single merperson was out tonight, making their trip a thing of ease. 

Even after they were far from home, the trip was lacking their usual chatter, but as they rose upwards towards land, Tasi questioned, ‘Do you hope that your mother might be up here?’

“Is it sad to say yes to that? I can’t help keeping an eye out for her every time I’m near land.”

‘No, it makes sense to me that you would still miss her, especially on a day like today.’ 

Jaskier smiled softly at that. At least something in the Great Sea understood why he upheld this tradition, even if it was pointless by now. Tasi continued to follow him to the shore despite how shallow it was becoming, but it turned out to be alright, as Jaskier recalled that the grotto they were heading towards had a few good-sized tide pools in it. That meant Tasi could stay close by, and they could keep each other company. He let the sea angel in on his idea and was delighted when Tasi agreed. The merman then dragged himself onto the damp rock bed before sticking his hands back in the sea to retrieve his friend. He kept his fingers tightly cupped together to prevent the water from spilling out before lowering Tasi into one of the deeper pools. 

“How’s that?” Jaskier questioned as Tasi swam around in the new space.

‘So far, it’s great!’

“Wonderful! It’s nice having some company like this again. Thank you for insisting on tagging along.”

‘No problem, Jaskier.’ Tasi’s light pulsed back in a casual manner, and then a second later picked up as if they were excited, ‘Whoa, there are a ton of sea butterflies down here!’

Jaskier chuckled. “Sounds like you’re about to have a feast.”

‘You can say that again!’

“So, are you ready to deal with me singing for the remainder of the night?”

‘Go for it! You act like I don’t enjoy your singing. If anything, I think you should do it more often.’

“Everyone in the kingdom would want to kill me even more if I did that.”

‘Well, I guess it’s a good thing we’re up here then.’

“Right you are,” he agreed with a chuckle, and then cleared his throat before beginning to sing one of his mother’s favorite songs.

Tasi made him laugh once more when he noticed that they were blinking along to the melody of the songs. Before Jaskier could sing himself hoarse, he gave his voice a break and simply sat there for a while. As he stared up at the stars and moon while listening to the waves, his ever-restless mind chose that peaceful moment to be cruel. He found himself wondering if his mother might be looking up at the same night sky and thinking of him too. Hooked on that thought, he started humming softly, and soon the words of a mournful little tune were drifting past his lips. 

It wasn’t anything he and his mother had sung before; it was something he was crafting up on the spot. It was a song of aching and wishing that things could’ve turned out differently. He subtly weaved in lyrics about the nearly overwhelming torment of having no control over his future, and how he longed to get away from it all, the same way his mother had.

A strange sort of huffing sound just above him abruptly silenced him. Had he been louder than he had realized? What had he alerted of his presence down here? Despite his unease, he didn’t want to risk calling out for the help of a kraken. He doubted his father would react too kindly to him returning to the land against his wishes, so he’d just have to do his best to sneak out of the area as quietly as possible. 

“Tasi, we have to get out of here. I don’t think it’s safe here anymore,” he whispered, slipping his palms into the pool and swiftly putting the sea angel back into the sea.

Jaskier began to shift over the rough rock as noiselessly as he could when a huge silhouette dropped inside of the grotto, nearly landing on top of him. He let out an involuntary shriek, and at the same time, the figure brandished a sword. The light from the full moon glinted off the blade, illuminating bright yellow eyes, and in the back of his mind, something told Jaskier that he had seen them before.

Nonetheless, that didn’t stop him from pleading for his life. “Please don’t kill me or eat me! I promise I’m not a tasty fish! I have way too many bones for it to be worth it, I promise!” 

A sudden flame ignited out of nowhere and a gruff, albeit nice voice came from his potential attacker. “You’re the white-tailed merman."

Jaskier groaned, “Oh fuck, we have met before, haven’t we? Look, you don’t want to harm someone you’ve been acquainted with, right? It would just seem rude on your part.”

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

“The weapon in your hand says otherwise. Unless this is just another kind of human greeting that I’m unfamiliar with.”

“You don’t speak much Elder for a merman,” the familiar stranger pointed out as he put his sword away, and Jaskier could’ve sworn he heard the smallest bit of amusement in his voice. 

“And I bet you don’t either, hence why I am speaking to you in your language. Anyway, I do have a name other than ‘merman’.”

When he received no response to that, he carried on because he didn’t know what else to do. He tended to ramble when he was nervous.

“I’m Jaskier of the Great Sea, and to whom do I owe the pleasure?” He made sure to leave out the part about him being a prince— who knew what kind of trouble that might get him in. 

“I’m Geralt of Rivia.”

Hearing that name forced him to recall Irena mentioning it the last time he’d seen her. This man was the witcher she was so frightened by. “Alright, Geralt, would you mind telling me what made you decide to jump down here and scare me half to death?”

“I mistook you for a siren,” he confessed.

Jaskier let out a sharp laugh at that. “Well, I can’t say that you’re the first human to think that.”

Even though Geralt didn’t say a word back to that, the lines of confusion on his face spoke enough for him.

“The other one was that blonde girl you saved from an actual siren the last time we saw each other. It was the first thing she ever said to me, actually.”

“So, in an indirect way, you were trying to lure in humans.” 

“Only to keep me company,” Jaskier pointed out, still leery that Geralt might find him to be a threat somehow.

“You know that’s not safe for either of you, right?”

“So I’ve been told, which is why I haven’t seen her in months.”

“Then what are you doing here right now?” Geralt questioned with a smug sort of look, as if he’d just caught Jaskier in a lie. 

He found himself debating if he should tell this man the truth and decided to let him in on just a piece of it. “It’s my hatchday.”

Geralt raised an eyebrow at that.

“I believe humans call it a birthday.”

“And you’ve decided to spend it out here? Alone? Aren’t merfolk supposed to be highly social creatures?”

“What can I say? Just because everyone else is asleep doesn’t mean the party has to stop for me.”

Geralt rolled his eyes. “Well, just keep it down, then. Some of us are trying to sleep.”

“It wasn’t that loud. Trust me. I can get a lot louder,” Jaskier sassed back and then silently cursed himself for his choice of words. 

He wasn’t sure why he felt a bit disappointed when Geralt didn’t have any reaction to his statement. Maybe his thoughts were more mature than the young merman’s, and the innuendo didn’t faze the other. That notion had Jaskier curious; how old was the man towering over him? If he were to guess just based on the whiteness of his hair, Jaskier would’ve thought him to be a much older man. On the other hand, the planes of his face were smooth, with only hints of scarring, suggesting that he was in his early thirties at most. 

He knew that the only way to truly find out was to ask, so Jaskier licked his lips anxiously before voicing his curiosity. “So, how old are you? Since we’re on the subject of hatchdays.”

“Much older than you.”

“Yeah, but by how much?” Jaskier questioned as he did his best to repress the smile that was threatening to spring up on his face, thanks to his secret amusement over Geralt’s rigid attitude. Before he could continue trying to pester the answer out of him, another odd, pained sort of noise met his ears, making him blurt out, “What is that sound?”

Geralt glanced up over the lip of the grotto and then explained, “That’s my horse, Roach. She’s probably getting restless up there waiting on me.”

“What’s a horse? Are they like seahorses?”

“Not really. They’re quite a bit different.”

“Then why do they have similar names?”

Geralt let out a huff of air, clearly getting frustrated. “I don’t know; I’ve never even seen a seahorse. Besides, I’m not the one in charge of naming creatures.” 

Jaskier opened his mouth to ask yet another question, but Geralt was already pulling himself out of the wet cave with the words, “Goodnight, merman.”

Jaskier let out a sharp huff of his own and muttered, “Well, that was rude.”

Instead of just leaving the witcher be, Jaskier hurried to wriggle his way back into the water and swam back far enough to catch a glimpse of this creature called a horse. It was a massive animal that was mostly a rich brown with a stripe of white down what appeared to be its nose. 

“She’s gorgeous!” Jaskier called out, making the witcher’s head whip back in his direction. 

He didn’t have a way to know for sure because of the distance between them, but Jaskier could’ve sworn that he saw something like a smile on Geralt’s face.

Thankfully, Jaskier and Tasi made it back to the kingdom without further incident that night, but they both agreed not to press their luck after that. It didn’t mean that they stopped sneaking around the castle, though; they still wanted to be left to their own devices, and Jaskier wanted to avoid all the dreaded questions about finding a mate. Unfortunately, that also meant that he heard things that weren’t meant for his ears. It usually wasn’t anything that he paid much mind to because it wasn’t ever anything that involved him.

He and Tasi had been planning to explore an old shipwreck they had found two days prior when he overheard all of the advisors speaking at once, sounding uncharastically frustrated and frantic. He followed the lingering trail of bubbles leading to the throne room and risked a peek inside, finding the advisors surrounding his father. All of them were speaking over each other in a clamor so unlike their usual calm demeanors. King Aldric held up his hands to quiet them all, and Jaskier still found a small part of himself impressed by the way his father could calm a crowd with ease. He doubted that he would ever be able to command a room that way once he was king. 

“Are you certain that it’s her?” he asked, tone severe.

“Yes, sir. Word has traveled all the way from Aretuza. I’m sad to say that Lady Kazimiera has died.”

Jaskier felt as if he had just been hit by a tidal wave at the sound of his mother’s name. There was no way she could be dead. They had to be mistaken. It had to be someone else.

Even though his father was excellent at masking his emotions, something like astonishment rippled over his features before he asked, “How did it happen?”

“No one is sure, Your Majesty, but we thought you might want to be informed of her passing.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with us or our kingdom,” his stepmother remarked as she glided past Jaskier without even glancing in his direction. 

Jaskier knew that she had always hated his mother, but this somehow felt like a new low. 

He watched her drift past the advisors to take her place beside his father with a severe look in her piercing green eyes as she continued, “Kazimiera caused enough trouble back when she managed to tangle herself into our royal affairs. I don’t think we should insert ourselves in her issues a second time, no matter what they are. If that’s all you have for us, you are dismissed.”

“Very well, my Queen,” the advisors murmured as one and then filed out of the room. 

“You too, Julian,” she called, and then, with an edge in her voice, she added, “Your father and I need to have a word in private.”

Jaskier made a show of making his way past the opening of the throne room to make it look like he was obeying her. He paused just around the corner of another tunnel that would allow him to dart off deeper into the castle if he needed to. He had to strain a bit to hear her, but the harshness of her voice made it slightly easier. 

“What was the purpose of having them keep an eye on her, Aldric?”

Jaskier could hardly believe his ears. _That’s_ what she was concerned about at the news of his mother’s death?

“I’ve never asked that of the advisors. That was the first time I’d heard her name in years,” the king tried to reassure her. 

“That still doesn’t answer my question. Why would they feel the need to do something like that without your prompting?”

“My best guess is because she’s still the mother of their future king. They might worry that the happenings in her life could affect Julian’s.”

“I thought we agreed. When she abandoned him, that was the end of our involvement with that damn sorceress, yes?”

“It was the end of mine— that never included Julian. It would’ve been cruel to ban him visiting her, regardless of how the rest of us felt. If she wanted to come back, I wasn’t going to be the one to try and stop her. It would have been unfair to them both.”

“You make it sound as if some part of you still holds feelings for her,” she snapped, and Jaskier could picture inserting herself in the king’s space from the sound of her aggression. 

“But, I don’t, Edyta. I regret what I did all those years ago. I was young and arrogant when I rescued her from that shipwreck, and I know that should’ve been the only time we met. I was already breaking so many rules by simply saving her, so part of me thought that it couldn’t hurt anything to break a few more. I thought there wouldn’t be any consequences to coupling with her because sorceresses aren’t supposed to be able to conceive, but clearly, Melitele had different plans for us. I know that doesn’t excuse my infidelity, but I’m doing all that I can to show you that I’ve grown since then. The boy I was then isn’t the man I am now.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I’m big enough to own up to my faults, as hard as it is to admit that. Everything after the minute I met her was a mistake. What can I do to convince you that, if I could take all of it back, I would?”

There was a tense moment of silence before she responded, “Let Valdo take his rightful place as king when the time comes for us to step down.”

At that, Tasi finally decided to voice their displeasure, flashing so frantically that Jaskier couldn’t even begin to decode what his friend was saying. All he managed to gather was the statement, ‘I know you don’t want to be king, but this isn’t right! She’s manipulating him!’ 

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Why not? Are you not King of the Great Sea? Isn’t your every order deemed as law?”

“That doesn’t mean I’m allowed to break long-standing traditions. The kingdom as a whole wouldn’t even hear of it.”

“You clearly don’t spend enough time with your people then. I happen to know for certain that they would be delighted to have a proper merperson as their ruler.”

“Julian is just as much a merperson as the rest of us!” King Aldric shot back. Having his son insulted was one thing he clearly wouldn’t stand for. 

She let out a faint sigh. “I’m sorry I chose my words poorly. I’m not saying that I agree with them, but I have overheard them gossiping on plenty of occasions. They don’t see him as one of their own, and they’re nearly obsessive over his lack of green coloring. It worries me what they might do to him once he takes the crown.”

“I’ll still be right by his side. I will make sure they see that he’ll be a great king, despite their doubts.”

“But what about when you aren’t here anymore? How will he manage then?”

“I don’t intend to go anywhere for quite some time, darling. I’m almost positive that he will catch on to the matters of the royal court in no time. He does take after me when it comes to being a quick learner, after all.”

“I truly hope you are right, Aldric.”

Jaskier felt as if his head were spinning around in a whirlpool by the end of their conversation, but he still had enough sense to get out of there before the queen caught him eavesdropping. One of the many things that refused to leave his mind, other than the horrific idea of his mother’s passing, was his father’s words about her. When he’d said that it all had been a mistake, did that include him too?

“Do you care if we don’t go to that shipwreck today?” Jaskier questioned as they left the castle.

‘Sure, it can wait,’ Tasi responded, and then waited a moment before adding, ‘Do you want to talk about what happened back there?’

He shook his head, for once not trusting his voice. 

Nothing else was said as they traveled to the grotto, disregarding the time of day. He just wanted to feel close to his mother in any way that he could, even though he never could again.


	3. Chapter 3

It became a habit for them to head out to the grotto every chance they had. Every time they would head to the shore, Tasi would make sure they wouldn’t be caught sneaking out and then carry on with their usual cheery banter. Jaskier was unsure if he should feel guilty over his repetitive behavior after a while. So he made certain that his friend had as many sea butterflies to eat as they wanted before these trips. They were both happy with the arrangement, but it soon became clear that someone else wasn’t.

Jaskier and Tasi had been mere inches from escaping the mouth of the coral castle when Ciri bolted in front of them to block the path. Jaskier sent a slightly disgruntled look at Tasi as if to ask how they’d missed the smaller mermaid.

‘Sorry! She’s quite fast!’ Tasi blinked quickly. 

“Where do you two keep going all of the time?” she demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest and fixed him with her sternest look.

Jaskier would never tell his little sister, but that specific expression reminded him more of a pout. He shrugged, to be casual as he said, “We just like exploring.”

“I feel like I never see you anymore.” 

He hated to see the frown that now pulled her face down because he knew that she was right. Nowadays, the moment he was done with his courtly duties for the day, he’d slip out to make his way to land. His heart was set on seeking out that feeling of being closer to his mother in some way. He hadn’t thought that anyone back here in the kingdom would miss his absence, but he’d obviously been mistaken. 

His expression saddened as he tucked her into a hug, murmuring, “I’m sorry, Ciri. I just wasn’t thinking.”

“You should start taking me with you.”

Right when he was about to tell her that it would be too dangerous, his memory was quick to remind him of all of the times that very same thing had been told to him. He wasn’t about to treat her similarly like she was too fragile and unable to take care of herself. Even if there was any risk, it wasn’t like she was going to be alone out there. He motioned for her to follow him out of their home so he could find somewhere more private for them to speak. Queen Edyta would surely punish him for what he was about to suggest. 

They had reached the outskirts of the settlement when he had decided that they were in a safe enough spot to talk. Even then, Jaskier still cast several sideways glances around them before opening his mouth. “Tasi and I have been going to a hidden grotto along the shore—”

Ciri cut him off with a gasp. “You’ve been going up to the surface? Didn’t Dad ban you from going there?”

“No one is supposed to go there,” he corrected her.

“Then, why are you?”

Jaskier momentarily chewed on the inside of his cheek, but decided it would be alright to let her in on what he’d been doing. “I go there so I can still feel close to my mother, at least in spirit. Something about that world up there feels as much as a part of me as this one does. If anything, I can be more myself there.”

She gave him a smile that had a mixture of sadness and understanding before asking, “But what is there even to do there?”

“I can show you,” he offered and then hastily added, “if you want to go with me, that is.”

“Won’t we get in trouble?”

“Not if we don’t get caught.”

The apprehension that clouded over her features had Jaskier preparing to take back his words, but the moment he opened his mouth, she nodded.

“If it’s good enough for you to keep going back, I don’t see why I should make myself miss out.”

“Wonderful! When are your last etiquette lessons for the day?”

“I was just coming back from them when I spotted you sneaking out.

Jaskier shot a sharp glance at Tasi as they began to swim in the direction that would take them out of the kingdom the quickest, muttering, “I thought you said that the coast was clear.” 

‘Like I said, she’s fast!’

“Are we going or not?” Ciri questioned, cutting them off before they could continue bickering. 

“Right, yes, we are,” Jaskier stated as he returned his attention to his sister. “We just have to be careful about sneaking off.”

“If you’ve been able to leave here so often without issue, what makes you think there will be trouble now?”

“They’ll care this time because you’re with me.” 

She rolled her pale eyes as she grumbled, “You act as if everyone here hates you. They all let you do whatever you please because you’re their future king.”

“And they’re probably hoping that whatever I get up to will kill me off so they won’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“Why do you always say things like that?” Ciri snapped, her face morphing into a scowl. 

Jaskier glanced around them to see if any other merpeople had taken notice of her outburst; thankfully, they were all far enough away to be unaware. He let out a heavy sigh. “It’s because I’m not foolish enough to believe that they might think otherwise. Now, do you want to stay here and keep questioning me, or are we leaving?”

When she remained silent, he gave a firm nod and began their secret trip to the surface.

Things calmed down between all of them by the time they reached the grotto. Jaskier had to admit that he was delighted to share this place with her as he watched her face light up at the sight of the cavern. The remaining sunlight reflected off the water onto the mouth of the grotto in white and gold writhing shapes. It was truly beautiful, but it only seemed to hold Ciri’s interest for a short while.

“So, what is there to do here, exactly?” 

“Follow me,” Jaskier told her as he nodded toward the deeper part of the grotto. As they scooted along the rough damp rock, he continued, “I found this not too long ago, and it’s been what allows me to come here on sunny days.”

Ciri opened her mouth to question her brother, but paused for a moment when they finally reached a tide pool that seemed to be quite larger compared to the others. “What is that?”

“It’s a bunch of underwater tunnels,” he explains with a wide grin.

“That doesn’t sound all that exciting.”

“Wait until you see how it looks inside.”

With that, Jaskier lowered Tasi into the hole before slowly following. He let his body sink far enough to allow Ciri room to enter the dark tunnel.

“How can you see down here? There’s no way that Tasi’s light could be bright enough.”

Jaskier let out a chuckle. “Tasi, light, please.”

Ciri let out a sharp gasp when the sea angel swam close to the lining of the rock wall, and everything around them was instantly illuminated in a shimmering glow.

“How?” Ciri asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

“These rocks can bounce light off of one another somehow. I believe they’re called crystals.”

“How have I never seen anything like this down near our kingdom?” she questioned, fingers grazing along the edges and points of varying shades of red, orange, pink, and white.

“I think these types of rocks can only form near land because I’ve never seen them anywhere in the sea.”

“It's so pretty up here. Why does everyone act like it’s so terrible and scary?”

“They’re rightfully fearful of some of the things that exist here, but they seem to fail to remember that there are plenty of dangerous things down there with us too.”

“Like sharks.”

“Exactly.”

Once they tired of exploring the crystal-lined tunnels, the three of them returned to the opening of the grotto. Jaskier and Ciri then sat and watched Tasi hunt for sea butterflies in the tide pools as they chatted, just to pass the time, but in the back of their minds, they knew that they’d have to leave soon.

Then it was as if Destiny itself became aware of this because a strange melodic sound made them both pause mid-laugh.

“Do you hear that?” Ciri whispered as her gaze darted to the top of the cave. When Jaskier nodded, she questioned, “What do you think it is?”

“I don’t know, but it sounds wonderful.”

“Do you think it might be a siren?”

“No, they don’t make noises like that. They just sing and screech,” Jaskier explained as he made his way to the lip of the grotto. “Just stay hidden in here, and I’ll go check it out.”

“Are you sure that you should go by yourself? What if whatever is out there spots you?”

“Better me than you. Trust me; I’m probably smarter and faster than whatever is up there.”

Jaskier then slipped back into the ocean, only allowing the top of his head to poke out of the water, and who he saw sitting on top of the grotto made him pause. He debated if it was safe to make himself known since he had Ciri with him, but Jaskier knew that he could trust this human.

“Irena?” He called out in a way that he hoped wouldn’t startle her, but at the sound of his voice, she nearly dropped the odd object that was in her grasp. 

Her eyes locked on him, and her expression of momentary fright shifted into pure delight. “Jaskier! I never thought I was going to see you again! It’s been over a year since our last visit.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Jaskier could tell that Ciri was now edging her way closer to the opening of the grotto, clearly curious about who he was speaking to. He knew that Ciri only spoke Elder, but that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t be able to tell that he was having an intelligent conversation with whatever had been lurking above them just seconds ago.

“I was forbidden from coming back to the surface after that.”

“You just couldn’t stand to stay away from me any longer, could you?” She teases as her fingers brushed over the thing in her hands, causing it to emit that astonishing sound yet again.

“One could say that might be the reason,” he shot back, unable to resist the grin that was now on his face, despite the feeling of tension over his sibling’s inability to stay put.

“So, what’s your real reason for returning?”

“I just missed it here,” Jaskier said with a shrug, unwilling to have any sort of true discussion about what had drawn him back to the shore. It didn’t feel right to bring up what had happened to his mother just yet, considering that this was the first time he had seen Irena in such a long time. It seemed wrong to taint their reunion with that sort of sadness. He decided to guide the conversation towards a different topic. “What is that thing you have with you up there?” 

“It’s a lute.”

“A what?”

“A lute. It’s a string instrument that you can make music with.” As she explained, her head tilted down to watch her hands plucking at the strings.

Jaskier used her moment of distraction to mouth to Ciri, ‘Stay. In. There.’

“Who are you talking to?” she hissed back, obviously irritated.

It was clear that she was going to refuse to listen as she placed Tasi back into the sea before following him.

Jaskier groaned as he ran a hand through his damp hair. “Dammit, Ciri.”

Irena’s head lifted swiftly as she raised an eyebrow at him. “Is something wrong?”

Before he could come up with a response, Ciri’s head emerged from underwater, and Irena let out a loud gasp at the sight of her.

“Is she the human girl that Valdo told mom about?” Ciri asked as she glanced from him to the girl in question. 

“What did he say?” Jaskier demanded, instantly more concerned by what that might mean for both him and Irena. 

“It was something about being worried that you would want to make her the next queen.”

He was almost certain that his face was bright pink at this point, and he was glad that Irena couldn’t understand Elder because he didn’t think he could stand that sort of embarrassment right then.

“I don’t think that’s something that they should be concerned about. She and I hardly know each other.”

“As if that’s ever stopped you from having a crush on someone before.”

“What are you two down there talking about?” Irena called out, thankfully putting an end to his and Ciri’s awkward conversation.

“Sorry, she was just asking about who you were,” Jaskier explained, deciding to leave out the other details for his own sake.

“And who is she?”

“This is my sister, Cirilla, but she likes to be called Ciri.”

“Hello, Ciri!” she called to the small mermaid with an enthusiastic wave.

He relayed the greeting to his sister, and Ciri politely returned the wave. Jaskier was unsure if he was more nervous or excited when Irena threw the lute onto her back by some sort of strap and then began to climb down into the grotto. He couldn’t stop himself from chuckling as she made a face at the moist state of the rocks that formed the bottom of the sea cave.

She must have heard his laughter as she explained, “Water isn’t good for this type of instrument.”

“How come?” he questioned as he drifted towards the girl. 

He waited for Ciri to protest against them getting so close to a human, but it quickly dawned on him that she was making her way to Irena a bit faster than he was.

“Any sort of water will warp the wood it’s made out of, and then it won’t sound right anymore.”

“Why did you bring it to the beach then?” he asked as he and Ciri climbed back onto the rocks beside her. 

“Well, I wasn’t planning on going down into one of my father’s old mining holes.”

He raised an eyebrow. At his expression of confusion, she explained what it all meant. After a few minutes, though, Ciri was clearly over the novelty of being up close to a human.

“What is she talking so much about?” Ciri questioned in a whisper as if Irena might somehow understand her.

Jaskier decided to relay what he was being told to his sister in the simplest way he could because he was having a hard time understanding the purpose of Irena’s father’s work.

“She’s explaining that her father collects those crystals we saw in the tunnel so he can trade for food and other things they need.”

“Why doesn’t he just hunt and ask other creatures for help the way we do?”

“I’m wondering the same thing myself.”

“Are you going to tell her about the ones you found, then?”

He considered it for a moment before nodding and then turned back to Irena to question, “Did you know that there are still plenty of crystals in that hole back there?”

Her head whipped around in search of the aforementioned pit with no success of spotting it. So, Jaskier then scooped up Tasi from where the sea angel had been swimming around his and Ciri’s tails and held the tiny fish out to Irena. She raised an eyebrow at him even as she held out her cupped hands to him. Jaskier found it odd that she didn’t have any sort of webbing between her fingers the way he and the rest of his kind did. He assumed that it was just something that humans didn’t need. 

“Follow me,” he instructed as he tugged himself back towards the tunnel, careful not to scrape his skin or scales on the more jagged bits of the grotto floor. “I don’t know how anyone could have missed this hole. It’s not like it’s hidden all that well.”

“I don’t think my father has done any mining in our village in years, so maybe time and the force of the waves eventually revealed it after they gave up on this area.”

“Well, he has certainly been missing out on quite a bit of crystal since then,” Jaskier remarked as they reached the opening of the tunnel. “Alright, put Tasi down in the water, please.”

She gingerly placed the sea angel into the pool. Her eyes grew wide as the glow that radiated from Tasi hit the surrounding crystals. She shook her head in awe of the shimmering sight as she questioned, “How far down does it go?

“Pretty far. It would probably take years to work the stones out of the rocks they’ve formed out of.”

“My father would most likely just have it all blown up and then cleaned out the pieces he found afterward.”

Jaskier felt his stomach give an uncomfortable twist. “So, you think that he would destroy this place?”

Irena frowned. “I don’t see how he would find any other way around it, even if he wanted to.”

“What if I just went down there and brought them to you instead? Then you could bring them home to him, and this place wouldn’t have to be completely ruined.”

“He would want to know where I got them from, then.”

He let out an exasperated huff. “Maybe we shouldn’t mention this to any of the other humans then.”

Irena appeared to be in deep thought for a long moment. When she finally spoke, it was in measured words. “Or I could just say that I’ve been finding them randomly along the shoreline and saved them as a gift since his birthday is coming up.”

“What about after that?”

She shrugged. “We’ll worry about it when the time comes.”

Jaskier wasn’t sure that he liked the way she decided to brush aside the issue, but he was kept from voicing his concern when Ciri appeared beside him.

“You look upset,” she pointed out, and then her gaze drifted over to Irena. “Is there something wrong with the crystals? Does she not like them?”

“It isn’t anything like that.” 

“Then what is it?”

He didn’t want her to already dislike the first human she had ever met, so he chose to play down their conversation by saying, “We’re just trying to figure out how to get them out of here.”

Ciri nodded in understanding before asking, “Do you two always have such boring talks like this?”

He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him, which prompted Irena to give him a curious look. He decided to be truthful, explaining, “She’s grown bored of us.”

Irena gave them both a warm smile. “I can’t say that I blame her. So, do either of you want to learn how to play my lute?”

Jaskier translated the question to his sister, but she shook her head. “I’ll just watch.”

Since Ciri turned down the offer, he felt as if he had to agree to it then, to keep from hurting Irena’s feelings. 

“I’ll give it a try,” Jaskier stated with outstretched hands, glad that his upper half had dried off enough to not harm the instrument. 

She smiled even as she warned, “Just so you’re aware, learning how to play the lute can be a bit tricky.”

“Well, let’s hope that you’re a good teacher then."

While Irena showed him what she called the basics, Ciri amused herself by playing with Tasi and plucking out several handfuls of crystals. Out of the corner of Jaskier’s eye, he could have sworn that she had found another way to entertain herself. She had somehow found thin strands of seagrass and began weaving it around the colorful rocks.

“I’m trying to make a crown,” she explained, obviously catching his quick glance.

Irena peered up at the sound of her voice and her eyes widened as she saw Ciri’s creation. She gleefully exclaimed, “That’s gorgeous! How is she doing that?”

Ciri’s gaze flashed towards her brother, appearing concerned by the tone of the other girl’s voice, but when Jaskier translated it, she relaxed. 

“I could show her,” she offered hesitantly.

Irena hurried over to sit beside his sister as soon as the idea was presented to her. He plucked and prodded at the lute in his lap as he cast frequent glimpses at the other two, enjoying the way they seemed to communicate without words. A sudden fluttering in his chest overcame him. Could Ciri have been right about how easy it was for him to grow feelings for others? He smiled despite himself as they traded the makeshift crown back and forth between the two of them, doing silly poses for the other. As he watched the way Irena got Ciri to freely laugh, he found himself thinking that his little sister might be onto something.

Now, whenever he went back to the grotto, he went with a purpose. Sometimes Ciri would tag along, and other times she would send Jaskier off with a wave.

“Tell her I said hi,” she’d say with a secretive smile and then swim off with a chuckle. 

He and Irena agreed to meet up for his lessons on her lute. They would keep at it for an hour or so, but the moment Jaskier’s pale fingers became pink and sore, it would end. The rest of their time together would be filled with shared stories of their opposing worlds, hunting for loose crystals, and teaching her Elder speech. He even attempted to show her how to swim when he found out that she couldn’t. Her unease at the thought of swimming puzzled him. 

“You’ve picked an odd creature to be friends with, then,” he observed with a teasing smirk.

She rolled her eyes as she pointed out, “I didn’t pick you. You just keep showing up.”

“The same thing could be said about you, but don’t you think you should learn how to swim? Considering that you live so close to the sea?”

She shook her head. “I actually live somewhat far from here. I come to the coast to get away from my village whenever I can.”

“How are you allowed to wander off by yourself so often?”

“Do you not do the same thing yourself every time you come up here? You said that you were forbidden to return to the surface, and yet here you are, nearly every day now. Why is that?” 

Something told Jaskier that Irena was avoiding telling him something important, but she had aimed such a risky question at him that he didn’t press the issue any further. He was still uncertain that it would be a good idea to own up to having a bit of a crush on a human.

In that moment of silence, Irena prodded a puddle of water with her bare toe, before softly asking, “Do you ever wish you could walk on land?”

“On occasion,” he admitted, but kept it at that. He felt too embarrassed to tell her that there had been plenty of times he’d dreamed of being able to walk around and explore the world that she called home. Jaskier decided to pose a similar question to her. “Do you wish that you could swim around in the sea like I do?”

“Only if I could do it to be with you more often,” she murmured as she leaned in closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

“That’s a strange thing to say to someone that you ‘didn’t pick’.” he sassed, quoting a few her words from just moments ago.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I actually love having you around.”

Jaskier smiled softly as his eyes turned to the sunset on the horizon. He sighed. “Looks like I should be heading back.”

“Wait. There’s something I’d like to give you before you go,” she requested, in a tone that had a hint of nervousness to it.

Jaskier had barely turned his head towards her when her lips found his. His eyes widened in surprise and before he could even think about kissing her back, movement in the water caught his attention. There seemed to be the silhouette of a man floating among the waves. When the remaining sunlight bounced off the sea onto their face, Jaskier recognized him. Without giving it another thought, he pushed Irena away, while Valdo vanished into the depths once more.

“If you weren’t interested in me, all you had to do was say so,” Irena snapped, unable to hide the hurt he’d just caused her. 

“No, it’s not anything like that. I just could’ve sworn that I saw my brother out there watching us,” Jaskier tried to explain, words tumbling out of his mouth in a way that made little sense. He was unsure which issue was more important to take care of at that moment.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“If he tells our parents that you and I are together again, or that we’ve kissed, Gods only know what might happen. I worry about what might be done to either of us. So I need to go find and stop him before he takes what just happened the wrong way.” 

“What do you mean ‘the wrong way’?”

Jaskier’s jaw tightened; there was no time for him to remain there arguing over his poor choice of words like this.

So his explanation came out in a swift stream of consciousness as he moved towards the opening of the grotto. “Look, my birth mother was a human and my stepmother despises your kind because of my father’s infidelity. My brother was next in line for the throne, but when I was born that changed. The crown goes to me now, but they’ve always held that against me, even though I don’t want it. If anything occurs between us, my stepmother will see it as me making a mockery of what my father did. I have to head back to my kingdom and hope that I can keep Valdo from telling her that I disobeyed orders.”

“So your only concern is what might happen to you? Have I ever meant anything at all?” she demanded, but before she could even get all of her words out, he was already gone.

Jaskier was off like a bolt of lightning, fearing that he was already too late. He was in such a rush to reach the castle that he nearly collided with the queen and Ciri. Queen Edyta merely cocked an eyebrow at him before drifting off without a word. 

Ciri, on the other hand, hung back. “Is something wrong?”

“Have you seen Valdo?” Jaskier bit out, ignoring her question.

“No, I haven’t seen him since this morning,” she responded in a puzzled tone. Then her face fell, making it clear that she understood why he was asking. “He knows, doesn’t he?” 

“He saw her kiss me and I have a feeling that he’s going to tell Father or your mother that I’ve gotten involved with a…” He paused, trying to keep from saying the word _human,_ and chose instead to say, “Someone like her.”

“What do you think they’ll do to you?”

“I’m not as worried about me as I am her. But I don’t think it will be good for either one of us if they find out.”

Ciri’s expression then lit up as she came up with an idea. “I’ll keep watch on Mother and do my best to distract her if he does show up.”

He gave a firm nod of approval and then said, “Take Tasi with you. That way they can come get me if Valdo does try to rat me out.”

“Where will you be?”

“With Father. there are some things I need to discuss with him anyway.”

“Are you going to ask if there’s any way that you can court her?”

Jaskier let out a sharp laugh as he shook his head. “There’s no way that could happen.”

“And why not?”

“Because, as the future king, there are certain rules I’m expected to follow. Staying out of the affairs of humans is the most important of them.”

Ciri pouted slightly. “It just seems so unfair. They have to know there’s no way that all humans are the same. They can’t _all_ be as horrible as everyone makes them out to be.”

“You’re right, but that doesn’t change the fact that the merpeople of the Great Sea won’t want a queen that can’t give them the things they want.”

“Like what?”

He swiped a hand through his hair as he carefully considered his words before explaining, “They wouldn’t want another merperson like me to be born and then one day take the crown after me. I know that they already don’t see me as one of their own, and I would hate to see what would happen to any child Irena and I would have.”

Ciri’s mind seemed to be racing as she floated there, taking in everything that her brother had just told her. Jaskier tried his best to reassure himself that this conversation wasn’t going to hinder his current plans. He knew that from this vantage point, he should be able to see if Valdo were to approach the castle. He just had to hope that his brother hadn’t already managed to slip in before Ciri could’ve had a chance to spot him. 

When she finally spoke once more, her voice was disheartened. “So, it doesn’t matter how you feel? You just have to do whatever they expect of you?”

“Sadly, that’s one of the prices we have to pay as royals.”

“Do you ever wish that you weren’t born a prince?”

Jaskier hesitated on what he should say back to that, unsure if he could just tell his sister the truth. If there was anyone that might understand his disdain towards his upcoming responsibility of becoming a king, it would be her. 

Even though he felt reassured by that thought, he simply responded, “Sometimes.”


	4. Chapter 4

It became clear that Valdo hadn’t returned to the castle after all, when, much later that day, Jaskier overheard several of the royal advisors discussing his possible whereabouts. Among those voices was their father’s.

“He made no mention of needing to be gone this long to his mother or me. Are you sure that you’ve searched the whole kingdom?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Although, there were reports that a few of your subjects saw him heading north. You don’t think he could have been heading to the shore, do you?”

“Of course not, Valdo would never go up there unless it was necessary. I highly doubt that it would change now.”

“Have you seen Julian today, sir?” another advisor asked.

Jaskier’s eyebrows shot up; why did the advisors want to know about him right then?

“Yes, Queen Edyta told me that he and Cirilla were lingering around in the castle halls a few hours ago. Why do you ask?”

“Please forgive me for saying this, Your Highness, but several of us have noticed that he tends to disappear quite a bit himself. We wondered if they might have gone off together this time.”

King Aldric let out an audible sigh. “That’s unlikely. They’ve always gotten along like shark pups in the womb, especially as of late. Valdo put a triton to Julian’s throat last year because of an argument, and I’ve been worried that the hostility between them will only grow the closer Julian gets to finally taking the crown.”

There was a tense moment of silence, and Jaskier had a feeling that it was caused by more than just his father’s statement. 

“Well,” the king continued, “you’ve all done enough searching for today. Gather up another search party and have them come to me at once, but after that, you are all free to do as you wish for the rest of the evening.”

Jaskier ducked out of sight as the royal advisors retreated to take care of their last orders. He knew that the entire kingdom was about to have a long night. Jaskier made sure to send Tasi to sleep with Ciri, instead of accompanying him. Right now, he needed to be alone with his thoughts. He was going to have to come up with quite the apology for when Valdo did show up and told their parents where he had been wandering off to so much, and Jaskier might even have to convince the queen not to harm Irena somehow.

He had to admit that he was surprised that he was able to manage to stay awake until he knew that dawn was approaching because that was when his brother finally decided to show up again. It wasn’t that he’d spotted the other merman; he’d just heard his stepmother gasp out his name. Just to be sure, Jaskier peered around the bend, taking in Valdo’s exhausted appearance, finding no hint of malicious intent on his face.

“Where have you been all night? We’ve all been worried sick about you! The entire kingdom has been searched twice for any sign of you.”

“I’m sorry, Mother, I just lost track of time.”

“Doing what?”

Valdo made an exasperated noise. “Can we discuss this once I’ve had some sleep? I’m here now, and I’m not hurt. I think that’s all that matters. I just had to take care of a minor issue outside of our kingdom, and now everything is how it should be again.

It was clear that Queen Edyta was perplexed by his explanation, but then she nodded. “Very well, I’ll make sure that no one disturbs you until you emerge from your rest.”

Valdo gently pulled his mother into a hug and shut his eyes with a little content smile as she wrapped her arms around him. Jaskier only had a moment to ponder over what had kept Valdo from home for so long, and then Valdo’s eyelids flashed open to lock with his own. 

He sneered at his younger brother as he mouthed, ‘Your girlfriend is a very friendly human.” 

A tidal wave of dread crashed over Jaskier’s nerves, and he tore out of the castle as if he was being carried by a riptide. He knew that he was acting on pure paranoia, but that didn’t stop him as he weaved and darted through reefs and past schools of unsuspecting fish. His heart was pounding as his thoughts grew darker. The whole way to the surface, he thought about all of the ways he might have harmed her. 

Jaskier nearly slammed into the lip of the cavern once he reached the land, but there was no indication that she was there. Searching the dim interior of the cave, he spotted her lute propped up against the wall. She had to be around here somewhere. He called out her name before quickly giving up on that to comb the shoreline, but had no luck there either. 

Maybe Valdo had tricked him and made him leave so he could clue Queen Edyta in about what he had been up to without Jaskier there to defend himself. He took in a shaky breath as he tried to steady himself, knowing that he had gotten himself caught right in Valdo’s trap.

Jaskier turned to swim back to the sea cave to wait on Irena, and at that same moment, he noticed something odd about a line of rocks just in the distance. He vaguely recalled the rocks being the spot where he’d first met Irena, but now there seemed to be a bit of fabric fluttering around in the wind. Hesitant, he drifted towards the rock formation, the shape he’d taken an interest in slowly beginning to make sense to him. His hands trembled as he reached out to brush her tangled hair out of her face, noticing that her once warm skin was now just as cold as the water he resided in. He pressed his fingers to her blueish throat, finding it completely still.

His body then collapsed over top of hers as a shuddering sob clawed its way out of his chest. Even though he knew that she couldn’t hear him, he still felt the need to breathe out, “I’m so sorry, Irena. This is all my fault. I should have just stayed away like I was supposed to. I’m sorry.”

He lay there, clutching her until his throat was raw from the awful sounds that escaped him. When the initial shock wore off, he realized that he had no way to contact her father or anyone she might have known to let them know about her fate. The thought of simply leaving her out here was nearly unbearable to him. Countless worries about what could become of her body came to mind. She could be ravaged by the many things that lived around and in the sea. For all he knew, she could turn into a drowner. She would then haunt him in the worst way possible if that were what was to become of her. His only comfort was then recalling that his mother had once told him that they were only made in rivers. 

He would remain by her side until a human showed up on the coast, and then call out to them for help. The last thing he cared about at that moment was his safety. If something were to happen to him because of this, he felt like he deserved it anyway. 

As the sun began to creep over the horizon, Jaskier could feel his body taking on a prickly sensation. It was like the weak rays of light were warning him that they weren’t going to show him any mercy, regardless of the catastrophe that had taken place. The tide seemed to get lower the higher the sun climbed into the sky, and with it, his scales became dry and irritated. Even the breeze itself was hot, and it was no time at all before his hair had completely dried from it. It felt as if the world around him was doing its best to drain everything it could out of Jaskier. 

He was well aware that if he didn’t at least take a small dip back in the sea, he’d pass out from dehydration, so he slid off the rocks and into the shallow water. The moisture was like a balm to his agitated form, and he justified the swim in his mind by retrieving Irena’s lute to bring back with him. To him, feeling uncomfortable was truly a minor burden to bear compared to hers. There was no way that he could ever atone for all that he had cost his friend; not even his own downfall felt worthy right then. Despite the fact that his skin had now gained the rosy tint of a sunburn, he chose to stay out and continue his vigil. 

As Jaskier kept watch for a sign of any approaching humans, he mindlessly plucked at the lute’s strings and, at the same time, he couldn’t stop himself from glimpsing over at Irena. If he didn’t fully look at her, it was almost like she was merely asleep, and her eyes would flutter open at any second. At that thought, new tears sprang up in his eyes as another bout of grief took hold of him. In a matter of seconds, he was reduced to a wailing mess once more, and at last, that seemed to be what attracted the attention of a passing human.

The brown-haired girl gaped down at the sight before her from the ledge she stood upon and let out a sharp gasp, before demanding, “Is that Irena? What have you done to her?”

“I didn’t mean for her to get hurt,” Jaskier managed to choke out between his ragged breaths.

He instantly realized that had been the wrong thing to say when the girl took off from his sight. Cursing to himself, Jaskier knew that he had just gotten himself into more trouble. Whoever that brunette found would see to it that he paid for the loss of Irena’s life with his own. In a way, it seemed fitting that things would turn out that way. More merpeople would be pleased to learn of his passing than not. He’d be doing them a favor by granting them the king they truly wanted

The only ones he could see mourning him would be Tasi, Ciri, and his father. He hung his head in defeat as he thought of the meaningless and meager legacy he would leave behind. He hadn’t wanted his life to be some sort of grand adventure, but he didn’t think it would turn out to be this simple either.

His focus on his dark thoughts ceased when more movement on the land caught his eye. Three figures appeared in the spot the girl had stood, and when the shine of the sun hit them, he noticed something else. There was a human standing off on their own, with long silver hair. He blinked hard several times, just to make sure that he wasn’t seeing things. Why did Geralt keep showing up like this? Could he have been tasked to dispose of Jaskier? After all, Irena had said that the witcher’s job was to kill monsters— and what he had caused was nothing short of monstrous. 

The person in the middle of the group suddenly took off towards the beach, sprinting the whole way, as Geralt and the other human hurried after them. When they got closer, Jaskier recognized some of the features on his face; this had to be Irena’s father.

“Witcher! Take care of that creature!” Irena’s father demanded as he thrust a finger in Jaskier’s direction. The fervor in the man’s tone wavered when he caught sight of what Jaskier had clutched in his arms. “It has my child’s lute! It’s clearly responsible for this!”

Geralt wordlessly gave the man a pointed glance as he carefully approached where Jaskier sat, petrified. Instead of doing as he was instructed, though, the witcher went to inspect Irena. There was a tense period of silence as he looked her body over.

Geralt’s gaze then met Jaskier’s as he remarked, “This girl’s body should have been picked apart as soon as the sun rose.”

Jaskier didn’t move or speak, as he was unable to come up with a response to that.

The man’s molten-gold eyes trailed over the visible parts of the merman’s torso and arms before questioning, “You’ve been with her since before the dawn, haven’t you?”

He nodded, at last, his body stinging in protest at the movement. It was as if Geralt’s acknowledgment of the state of his skin finally made the burn come to his attention. 

Geralt nodded as well and then turned his attention back to Irena. A minute later, he let out a low hum as he checked the backside of her arms.

“What are you just standing there for?” Irena’s father demanded as his glare shot back and forth between the merman and the witcher. “That thing murdered my daughter!”

“Actually, I don’t believe he did. There are obvious bruises and cuts caused by tentacle suckers on her arms and legs. Judging by the size of them, she was attacked by a kraken.”

“Merpeople can control krakens,” the third human points out, as she steps forward to yank the instrument out of his hands before giving it to Irena’s father

“Exactly! So he has to be the one responsible.”

“Not necessarily,” Geralt interjected as he nodded in Jaskier’s direction. “I’ve seen this merman try to order around a kraken once before, and let me tell you, he’s absolute shit at it.” 

Jaskier had never felt so grateful to have someone insult him, yet in the back of his mind he still felt a twinge of exasperation. 

“That doesn’t mean he’s innocent. He could’ve gotten the beast to cooperate this time,” the other man argued through gritted teeth. “I’ve had enough of this. If you won’t deal with this merman, there was no point in you tagging along.” 

“Tobiasz, if the witcher won’t assist you,” the woman offered as she smirked at Geralt and Jaskier, “would you allow me to dispose of this merman?”

Geralt moved to the side to stand in between her and Jaskier. Jaskier debated whether or not he should take advantage of the cover and swim out of there as fast as his fins could carry him, but he had a feeling that this wasn’t an ordinary woman. His apprehension over that uncertainty kept him firmly planted on the rock as she continued to speak to Geralt. 

“What makes you think I’d be frightened by your mere brutish form, witcher?”

“Because I don’t think you’re as powerful as you’re pretending to be. Besides, nothing should be done to him until we know for certain that he’s the one who did it.”

The auburn-haired woman let out a scoff of disgust. “How do you intend to do that? The proof is right here before our eyes. We’re prolonging the inevitable at this point. Now get out of the way.”

A harsh gust of wind sprayed saltwater into Jaskier’s face and knocked Geralt out into the waves. Seeing that smacked some sense back into Jaskier. His suspicions had been correct about her being more than human; he wasted no time rolling off the rock. Shards of it pelted down after him as the sorceress attacked again. His escape was short-lived; something hit him, and his limbs suddenly felt as if they’d been stung by a large jellyfish.

Despite the pain, he pressed on. As he scrambled against the waves in his weakened state, something caught his attention. Geralt’s unconscious body was slowly sinking to the seafloor. Even though the water wasn’t deep there, he realized that Geralt was now helpless and would drown if he didn’t intervene quickly. Jaskier wasn’t about to let another human die because of his mistakes. Especially one that had tried to save his life.

He bolted towards the witcher and caught him right before he touched the sand. It was a struggle to pull him to the surface, and the feebleness Jaskier was experiencing only made it worse. He did his best to muster what was left of his strength and guide the man to safety.

Barely raising his head out of the sea, Jaskier saw Tobiasz and the sorceress searching the waves for any sign of them. Tugging Geralt to the grotto was not an easy feat, for several reasons, but the tide also seemed to be trying to pull them back to the others. There was little doubt in his mind that the sorceress was causing it. By the time he managed to get them both into the cave, he worried that he had done more harm than good by dragging Geralt across the craggy rock floor. There was no telling how many bruises and scrapes the witcher had probably received, but Jaskier knew that it wouldn’t matter, as long as he didn’t drown. 

Jaskier had no clue how to revive someone in such a state, so he began to try anything that he could think of. Shaking, poking, and prodding did nothing to rouse him. He then rolled Geralt onto his side, and when that failed too, he got another idea. Even though he was hesitant, his distress won him over as he smacked Geralt hard in the face. 

The witcher woke with a retching cough, spitting up saltwater before rasping, “What the fuck was that for?”

“I’m sorry, but I had to wake you up somehow.”

Geralt only scowled in response as he moved into a sitting position and swiped wet hair out of his face. 

Jaskier felt sick to his stomach by this point; he knew that neither of them were in good enough shape to defend themselves against the sorceress. Maybe if they hid out in the grotto for a while, the humans would give up their search. 

Another fit of coughing came over Geralt before he asked, “How did we get here?”

An odd change to the atmosphere, which made Jaskier shiver from the chill of it, fell over the cavern before Jaskier could say a word. A spinning ring of water suddenly appeared beside him.

“Fuck,” Geralt growled as he struggled to rise off of the ground. “Get back right now.”

“What is that?” Jaskier questioned as he tried to push himself away from the sorceress, who had stepped through the air-borne water.

He didn’t know where to look when Geralt jumped to his feet, whipping out his sword from over his shoulder, and the sorceress threw her hands out in front of her. A blast of magical energy threw the witcher onto his back yet again. The sorceress grabbed ahold of Jaskier and he felt an unsettling tingle spread across his body, paralyzing him.

“I would say until we meet again, Witcher, but there sadly won’t be another time,” the woman stated with a smirk as she started to lift her free hand.

Somehow, Jaskier knew that she was going to mortally wound Geralt. It felt as if his heart was going to beat out of his chest; there wasn’t anything he could do to stop it. Geralt was struggling to get back up this time. There was no way he was going to have time to defend himself, or even to get out of the way. The stress of the moment was building up inside of Jaskier, filling him up with so much pressure because he knew this was it. This was the end. 

A foreign tingling sensation coursed through his entire being and then burst through his hands. In a blur of blinding blue light, Jaskier and the sorceress were blown back and then he was staring up at a clear sunny sky.

“Wh-where did you learn how to do that?” the sorceress said, stumbling over her words. She swiftly rolled over top of him and pulled out a blade from her skirt to press to his throat.

“Adriana! Is he dead?” Tobiasz called from somewhere close by.

Jaskier’s head was spinning like he was caught in a hurricane and dark spots had entered his vision by the time Tobiasz showed up. How had they gotten out here? What had he just done to keep her from attacking Geralt? More questions and ideas continued to pop up in his frazzled mind, making him nauseous.

“I have another idea,” Adriana, the sorceress, offered as she studied the merman beneath her dagger. “He might actually be more useful to you alive.”

“What do you mean?” Tobiasz questioned with an arched brow and an expression that made it clear that he wasn’t too keen on her suggestion.

“We’ll discuss it when we return to your home.” 

Was she planning on keeping him as a prisoner? Jaskier opened his mouth to protest this, but then a rush of darkness overcame him. 

Somehow when he woke again, he felt even worse than before. It was honestly surprising that he had gotten to wake up at all. He would have figured that they would’ve decided that carrying around his unconscious form wasn’t worth the effort and they’d leave him to dry out somewhere. So he was taken aback when he found himself in water. The moment of relief was short-lived when he realized how cramped the space was as his vision came into focus. 

There was a moment where he wondered if he was dreaming, when he took notice of all the trees around him and the fact that he was drifting past them. Despite the stiffness in his muscles, Jaskier shifted around ever so slightly to better take in his surroundings. It appeared that he was trapped in some sort of bubble, with Adriana and Tobiasz keeping pace on either side of him. Clearly, neither of them had caught on that he had woken up. He made sure to appear to be asleep as they continued their conversation

“I don’t know why she couldn’t have listened to me for once,” Tobiasz mumbled as he shook his head. “I knew that village by the sea would only bring her trouble, but I always thought it would be from a sailor or a fisherman. Not something like this.”

“There was no way you could have seen this happening. Didn’t you mention that she said he was kind and friendly to her? She couldn’t have foreseen that things would turn out this way.”

Jaskier was bewildered that Irena had even mentioned him to her father. It was strange to him to think of being comfortable with explaining to one’s parents that you were out befriending someone that was of a different species. He found himself wondering if things were different up here in the human world when it came to something like that. Were they not as leery of things that they didn’t understand? 

“But I should have. I’ve heard plenty of ballads and tales about merpeople luring innocents into the water just for the fun of drowning them. I should have forbidden her from returning to the seaside as soon as she brought him up.”

Adriana nodded solemnly before changing the subject. “Where would you like to have him placed?”

“Are you sure that all of this is going to be worth the effort?”

Her expression changed into something a bit more sinister as she said, “It only seems fair to prolong his punishment, since he’s what cost your daughter her life.”

Jaskier felt as if he was going to be sick all over again. Just what was this woman planning to do to him?

“Is this really going to turn a profit?”

“Who would honestly turn down the chance to see a merman up close? It’s bound to bring in more coin than your recent mining efforts have, so what do you have to lose?”

Tobiasz seemed to be lost for words at her questions.

She continued, “Come on, let’s go rest inside for a bit and we’ll discuss this more over a drink.”

After that, Jaskier was left outside of the odd structure that Tobiasz called his home and as soon as they were out of sight, he was trying to find a way to escape. He had only managed to maneuver his tail in front of him, when it dawned on him that if he were to get out, he wouldn’t be able to get any further. He clutched his head in his hands at his moment of foolishness and remained in that position, hoping that the pressure of his hold would force a plan into his mind.

“Well, I’m glad to see that you’re finally awake,” Adriana remarked with a snide laugh. Jaskier’s head snapped up in her direction as she made her way back outside. “Oh, and just so you’re aware, that sphere you’re in is enchanted. You can’t get out and humans can’t get in. Not that they would want to help you. So I suggest you get used to your new home.”

“Why are you doing this? What’s in it for you?” Jaskier questioned, and he noticed that his voice sounded odd from inside the bubble.

“Come again?” she said with a gleeful chuckle as she cupped her hand around her ear. “That’s another fun trick that bubble can do. You can hear us, but we won’t have to listen to you when you start whining.”

He let out a growl of frustration and slammed his shoulder into the wall of water, instantly regretting it thanks to his overly tender skin. 

Adriana gave him an amused smirk. “Well, I’m off to find Tobiasz some customers willing to pay a nice sum for the chance to witness something as strange as you. Let’s hope Tobiasz will be in a generous mood afterwards; I could use a couple of coins myself.”

The sorceress’ predictions came true. Countless humans showed up to gawk at him day after day. He never had any privacy, and to make it even worse, the sun beat down on him nearly the whole time. His body suffered greatly because of it. After a few weeks, his flesh started to scab up in several places, leaving him with patches of iridescent dead skin, almost reminding him of scallop shells. Being trapped in that bubble had more negative effects on a lot of other things other than just his skin— it started to mess with his tail as well. Seeing that he could barely move in the space he was given, his fins became limp and he would get cramps often from the awkward way he had to hold himself. 

The inside of his head wasn’t any better. Nightmares about Irena’s death and his capture kept him up most nights. Thoughts about the seemingly endless days ahead of Jaskier made him wish that Adriana had just gone through with ending his life. Guilt, frustration, and anguish were his most common emotions at this point. He just wished that Destiny itself would do him a favor and put a stop to this torment somehow. 

Due to his poor physical and mental health, his many visitors began to take notice of it and they weren’t quiet about it either.

“Is this poor boy even still alive?” A man with graying hair questioned as he inspected Jaskier. Obvious concern created creases in his already wrinkled brow.

“He’s perfectly fine,” Tobiasz lied, more snappily than he’d probably intended to.

The other man was far from convinced. “Like hell he is! I’ve spent nearly twenty years out at sea and I’ve seen my fair share of merfolk in that time. He’s undoubtedly sick.”

“Listen here, old man, no one forced you to come. So if you’re so sickened by this, you’re free to leave.”

“And I will, but before I make my way home, I’ll be sure to inform the king that you’re holding this merman hostage.” 

With that, the older man marched away and the crowd that had gathered to see Jaskier reluctantly followed. All of a sudden, they didn’t want to be a part of this anymore, like they hadn’t already paid to come witness a merperson’s suffering. So now that Tobiasz was alone, he stormed off down the road with a purpose of his own. 

Jaskier felt the first glimmer of hope, something he hadn’t felt in more than a month. A human that didn’t know him at all was going to try to save him. He’d be free from his entrapment and as soon as he was back in the sea, he intended to find a way to make Valdo pay for all the misery he’d gone through. Even in his frail condition, he felt giddy at the thought of freedom. Now it just seemed that he only had to wait a little bit longer.

It turned out that what he was waiting on wasn’t what he had hoped for. Not too long after Tobiasz had gone, he came back with Adriana on his heels.

“We have no choice but to relocate you.”

“Have you not been listening to me? I will do no such thing! This spectacle has gone on long enough! I need you to burst that bubble and get rid of him so I can move on with my life in peace.”

“Even if I kill him, you would still have the word of the entire village against you. I have no doubts that the king would simply have you thrown in a dungeon just to shut up the rest of his subjects. You don’t have any other options here, Tobiasz.”

He let out a heavy sigh before giving in. “So where would you suggest that I go?”

“There's a decent cottage just on the outskirts of Aedirn that you can afford that will be both safe and comfortable. Now gather up what you can carry— you’ll probably only be able to make this trip once.” 

Tobiasz busied himself by doing as instructed and Jaskier didn’t fail to notice that the man had strapped Irena’s lute to his back along the way. That little bit of hope for his rescue truly died the moment Adriana opened a portal and then sent him through it first. 

Even though he knew that he was just a few breaths away from passing out, thanks to how lightheaded he was, he couldn’t help taking in his new surroundings. There were many trees in this place, packed tightly against one another as if forming a wall around the structure Adriana had called a cottage. The last thing his blurry eyes saw was the peak of a mountain just in the distance.


	5. Chapter 5

Jaskier found himself slipping in and out of awareness. Bits and pieces of sounds and conversation drifted into his ears, but before he could grasp what was being said, he drifted off yet again. He wasn’t sure how long he was in that state, but after a while, he did manage to catch a discussion that was about him.

“The creature is only getting worse, Adriana. There’s no way we can have people coming to see him the way we were. Even someone that isn’t familiar with merpeople is going to be able to tell that something is wrong with him.”

“Well, I’ve never been that skilled with healing others—”

Tobiasz cut her off. “Then find somebody that is, or this scheme you’ve created is going to be over soon, whether you want it to be or not. This merman is going to become my only source of income since you’ve taken me so far from my old mining job and most likely cost me my reputation back there as well. I can’t go back anymore, so you need to fix this _now._ ” 

“Fine. I know a mage that’s nearby that owes me a favor. I’ll have her see what she can do for him.”

That must have meant Jaskier was sicker than he had thought, which he had to admit made sense, considering all that his mind and body had been put through. Though at this point, he wasn’t sure if he wanted someone to nurse him back to health. He wanted all this to be over already. After that, he drifted off into the void once more.

The next time he became aware of anything, he felt as if he was being cradled in a comforting warmth. It was subtle, gentle, and unlike anything he’d felt in quite some time. As the sensation began to fade, Jaskier wanted to chase after it, to keep it for just a little bit longer. Part of him wondered if he was dying, and this was what the end felt like, but then he cracked his eyes open and found a face he didn’t recognize. Blinking several times, he silently studied the woman before him. 

Sadly, from the slight murkiness of her appearance, he knew that he was still in the enchanted bubble. She had the most vivid violet eyes, her hair was as black as octopus ink, and her golden-brown skin reminded him of a warm sandy beach. While her beauty was captivating, something about the intensity of her expression made it clear that she was something closer to a force of nature than a human.

“You know you nearly let him get to the brink of death, don’t you?” the woman commented as she peered over her shoulder.

Jaskier followed her gaze to find Adriana standing behind her with crossed arms and an unamused face. “That’s why I requested your assistance. You understand this healing business better than I do.”

“Clearly,” she agreed curtly as she turned her attention back to Jaskier. “You haven’t been feeding him well either.”

“It’s not like it’s that simple to go and get proper meals for a merman this far inland, is it?”

The dark-haired woman then fully whipped around to face Adriana, and stated with a cutting tone, “We both know that you could’ve easily made a portal back to the sea. You were just too lazy to do even that. He isn’t some sort of investment; he’s a living being.”

“Hmph, if I didn’t know any better, Yennefer, I’d say that you’ve managed to grow a heart after all these years.”

There was a moment of silence before Yennefer asked, “Where’s my payment?”

“We agreed that this was for a favor.”

“Yes, to heal him, not bring him back from the dead.”

Adriana dug in the bag that was wrapped around her shoulder before tossing Yennefer a small jingling pouch.

Yennefer caught it in a single hand with ease. “Don’t look so cross. You still have plenty of coin left to do much more than sustain your overwhelming greed.”

“Trust me; I don’t have to worry. Now that he’s back in working order, I’ll make that meager amount back in tenfold in this kingdom. Merpeople are a rarity unlike any other this far from the Great Sea.”

“Just so you’re aware, what I’ve done for him will only work for so long if you don’t return him to the ocean. He’ll keep getting sick over and over until not even magic can help him anymore.”

Adriana cocked an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean by that?”

Yennefer let out a heavy sigh. “If you can’t be that imaginative, that isn’t my fault. Either way, I must be leaving. There are more pressing things I need to take care of at the moment.”

At that, she opened herself a portal in a seemingly effortless manner and was gone in the next second. Jaskier wasn’t exactly sure if he was glad that she had revived him, because it meant that this imprisonment would last a whole lot longer. On top of that, even though his bodily health was back in order, it didn’t mean that his mental health had gotten any better. His thoughts of despair remained fully intact, and he knew that they could only get worse from here.

Several nights later, Jaskier woke up from another nightmare. He could vaguely recall the sound of Irena pleading for help as the kraken slowly dragged her from his too-weak grasp; even in dreams, he’d failed her. Gazing up at the moon high in the sky, he figured it was still the middle of the night, and decided that he should try to give sleep another chance. As he shifted around, trying to find a somewhat decent position to sleep in, a faint sound caught his ear. Despite the fact he’d always been able to see well in the darkness, he couldn’t manage to find the source of the noise.

Then, just to his left, Yennefer stepped out of the line of dense trees. When they made eye contact, she held a finger up to her lips and shook her head. Jaskier watched her careful approach with mounting confusion. Why would she be sneaking out here so late?

When she made it to the bubble, she spoke to him in a voice that was barely even a whisper, “You’re Kazimiera’s son, aren’t you?”

He could only gape at her for a moment before slowly nodding his head.

“Your mother and I used to be close. I’m certain that she wouldn’t want you trapped like this,” she explained as she reached out to place her fingertips against the water. She frowned when she found that she couldn’t press through it. She tried the same thing a few more times, only managing to make the water shimmer slightly, before shaking her head. “This isn’t going to work. It appears that Adriana put some powerful wards on this. See if you can try to push through from your side.”

Jaskier did just that, but he too couldn’t break the barrier. Even though he knew that she wouldn’t be able to hear him, he still said, “Humans can’t get in, and I can’t get out.”

Yennefer then began to pace back and forth in tight lines, evidently attempting to come up with another way to break through the spell-work. She paused mid-step suddenly as she murmured, “That’s it.”

Jaskier gave her a puzzled look, but waited for her to go on. 

“We just have to make this thing want to reject you, and I think I have an idea of how to make that happen.” It appeared her thoughts were racing as she opened a portal, and before she stepped through, she reassured him, “I’ll be right back.”

Yennefer was only gone for a short while, but to Jaskier, it felt like a lifetime. During her absence, his eyes flitted from the forest to the moon as he tried to gauge the time. He worried that if she didn’t hurry with whatever plan she had, the sun would rise soon enough, and they would be caught.

A ring of light finally appeared, and Jaskier felt a small bit of relief as she reemerged, carrying a bundle of cloth tucked under her arm and some sort of plant in her fist. She wordlessly crumbled it up and sprinkled it over the top of the bubble. 

The bits of greenery drifted down towards him as she instructed, “Eat as much of that as you can. It’s the only sort of herb I could find that might keep this from causing you immense pain.”

“What are you doing to me?”

Clearly, she could read lips because she explained, “I’m going to give you human legs.”

“Is that even possible?”

“We’re about to find out.”

Jaskier caught as much of the plant as he could in his palms. Once he’d gotten some of it in his mouth, he made a face at the bitter taste. He was more worried about the mention of pain, though, so he continued to consume as much of it as he could gather.

“Alright, hold still for a moment,” she instructed as she placed her hands on the bubble and shut her eyes in intense concentration.

Jaskier had no choice but to do as he was told, out of fear that he might cause her to mess up. He wasn’t all that sure how he felt about being turned into a human, but if it got him out of his confinement, he would find a way to get over it. 

An unsettling tingle went down the middle of his tail, and he swore that it had begun to glow faintly. Then a dull ache started at the tips of his fins that continued to build until he was hunched over, clutching his tail. He grit his teeth so hard that he feared that he might chip them from the force as the pain got worse. It felt like he was slowly being cut in half, and he felt that he would pass out from it soon. For the first time, he was grateful that Adriana had put that spell on the bubble to silence him, as a howl of misery overtook him. 

Amid his suffering, Jaskier barely noticed that the water around him began churning from more than just him thrashing around. The pressure of the water felt as if it were on the verge of crushing him, and all of a sudden, he was inhaling air before being slammed to the dirt. The abruptness of the switch left him so disoriented that he could only lay there, blinking up at the night sky. That is, until Yennefer appeared standing above him and tossed the cloth over him. 

“You need to hurry up and pull yourself together. We need to leave as soon as possible. This will be a long journey.”

Hesitantly, Jaskier pushed himself up with his still trembling arms. As soon as he got a glimpse of his new limbs, he let out a sharp gasp. “You actually did it.”

She nodded as she picked up one of the clothes and softly murmured, “Now we just have to hope that I’ll be able to turn you back once we get to the sea. Hold up your arms.”

He did as instructed, noticing that he wasn’t in the least bit of pain anymore as she slipped the white garment over his chest. If she could make something like this possible in the first place, he had no doubts that she could change him back. 

“This is soft,” he remarked, brushing his fingers over the pale material. 

“Let’s hope the man I took that shirt from didn’t enjoy it as much as you do. Do you think you could try standing up?”

There was a moment where he could only watch her warily. It unsettled him that she was so comfortable with stealing. He wondered what else she might be capable of, but he forced himself to put aside those worries. She had just saved his life, after all, that had to count for something.

Thankfully, she interpreted his expression of apprehension as merely hesitation about being on his feet. She let out a huff of air before moving behind him and easing him off the ground, only for him to nearly fall forward onto his face.

“Well, this is going to be a bigger issue than I had considered,” Yennefer muttered as she gripped his shoulders to keep him upright. “When I said I wanted to be a mother, I didn’t expect it to be an overgrown infant.”

“Hey!” Jaskier hissed as he peered back at her. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“I was only joking,” she reassured with only a hint of a grin. A second later, something just up the dirt path caught her attention as she excitedly whispered, “I’ve got it!”

Yennefer lowered Jaskier back to the ground and then ran off down the path. Jaskier looked and saw a man with a cart pulled by two horses heading their way. Yennefer conversed with the man for some time before he got out of his seat to help her untether one of the horses. She then made her way back to Jaskier’s side with the gray horse in tow.

“It appears that the Gods were on your side tonight,” Yennefer murmured as she petted the animal’s long nose. Before Jaskier could reply, she went on, “We don’t have time to teach you how to walk right now. The best I can do is help you get out of here quickly.”

“Why couldn’t we just take one of those portal things you and Adriana use?” he asked as he sent a nervous glance at the large horse.

“Because,” she began as she hoisted him up once more, “I don’t know if your body will be able to handle it. Especially after the change, it just went through. I’m honestly surprised that you aren’t unconscious right now.”

After quite a bit of an awkward struggle to help him put on what Yennefer had called ‘breeches,’ there was still the whole other obstacle of getting him on the horse’s back. By the end of it all, the sun was already peeking over the trees. Despite how tired the mage now appeared, she swiftly pulled herself onto the horse’s back behind Jaskier, spurring it into a run as soon as she was seated.

They rode well into mid-morning. To stay awake after the long night they’d had, the two of them talked to each other quite a bit. They discussed the differences between the sea world and the surface world the most because it was clear that neither of them wanted to talk about their past or personal lives.

“Yen? Is there any way we could stop for a bit? It’s starting to hurt,” Jaskier eventually asked. 

“As soon as we reach an inn, we’ll take a break.”

Considering he didn’t know what an inn was, he made sure to ask about it. He’d spent a lot of their conversation questioning all the foreign things she brought up. Thankfully, she had only gotten truly aggravated by it twice so far. He felt her chest give a small heave against his back, but she explained what it was nonetheless.

By the time they’d reached an inn, Jaskier understood almost all there was to know about the place. At least, as much as Yennefer was willing to tell him before she looked like she was debating on whether or not to smack him.

“Wait right here,” she ordered him before dismounting the horse with ease and then strolling off into the building.

When she returned, she was accompanied by two large men. His heart felt as if it was going to jump out of his chest. Had he been wrong about her?

“He may look sober enough, but trust me, the second he tries to step off that horse, he’ll fall flat on his ass,” Yennefer remarked as they nodded before stepping past her. It was clear that she could read the fear on his face as she mouthed, ‘Trust me. Just let them help you.’

“Alright, just drop down, and we’ll get you to a room,” one of the men directed as he and the other held out their arms to him.

‘Don’t say anything,’ Yen continued, without making a sound herself.

Doing his best to push down his paranoia, Jaskier fumbled around to get himself off of the horse and would’ve toppled to the ground if the two men hadn’t caught him first.

“You weren’t kidding, Miss,” the other man remarked as the two straightened Jaskier up, tossed each of his arms on their shoulders, and dragged him inside the inn. “How much did he drink? He doesn’t even have any boots, for Melitele's sake!”

“We’re in the room just up the stairs to the right,” Yen directed, clearly ignoring the question, as she followed behind the group.

They unceremoniously let Jaskier fall onto the bed, and Yennefer offered them a bit of coin, which they waved off before stepping back out of the room.

Once they were alone, Yen helped straighten Jaskier out a bit better and covered him with the blanket that had been draped over the bed. When she seemed satisfied with her work, she said, “Try to get some sleep. I’ll have someone send up some food, and then I’m going to lock you in here for a bit while I find someone who can help keep you safe on our way back to the sea. Will you be alright?”

He nodded and then caught himself thinking that she reminded him a bit of his mother. At that thought, he decided to ask Yen about something he’d been wondering. “How did you know my mother?”

It appeared she was debating how to reply, before she let out a small sigh. “That’s a bit of a story. I’ll go grab us something to eat, and we’ll discuss it then.”

Jaskier was glad that Yen continued to live up to her word as she took care of retrieving food and then came right back. She handed him a steaming bowl of something called ‘stew’ and instructed him to blow on it to cool it off. She sat across from him at the foot of the bed with her own bowl cupped in her hand, wearing that same expression of contemplation as before. 

“You’re aware that your mother was supposed to be a mage, aren’t you?”

He nodded as he warily sampled the food, finding it quite warm, but it tasted pleasant.

“Well, she came to Aretuza quite some time after I had left, but we met during one of my few visits back. She was about to go through her transformation. I told her that she’d never be able to bear children afterward, and then she no longer wanted to be a part of the academy. So I helped her escape when I left. I taught her what I had learned from our instructor Tissaia and then some, and not long after that, she became a little too close to a certain merman. Who would’ve thought she’d end up falling for a king and giving birth to the next ruler of the Great Sea.”

Jaskier nearly choked on his food at that.

“Yes, Jaskier, I know you’re a prince. That’s why you need to be returned home as soon as possible. If anyone were to find out about your royal status, it could prove very dangerous for you. That’s also why I need to go speak with a friend of mine about accompanying us for extra protection.”

At the end of their meal, Yennefer put an enchantment over the room and gave him a dagger just in case he might need it somehow. This time she did take a portal, leaving him to do nothing but wait for her return. With a full stomach and soft bedding, he found it hard to keep his eyes open, and before he was even aware of it, he was in a deep sleep.

By the time Jaskier woke up, the night had already passed, and the sun was making its slow return once more. The rays of light warmed his face, and he realized that the sun wasn’t hurting him anymore. In fact, the sunlight hadn’t bothered him at all yesterday during his and Yennefer’s trip to the inn. He must have been too focused on the fact that he had acquired legs to notice the many other ways he had changed. Since he had no clue when Yen would be back, he decided that he should at least try to get familiar with his new body parts. He shoved himself up on his elbows to look down at his toes and wiggled them slightly. It was a tiny action, but it still made him chuckle slightly. 

There was no telling how long he lay in that bed, teaching himself all the different ways he could move his legs. He even managed to get himself into a sitting position, but anything after that still seemed too tricky for him. So he moved on to discovering the other changes that the spell had made to his body. The webbing between his fingers was gone, along with the gills on the side of his neck, and he had to admit that he was surprised by how much hair he’d gained. It was all over his arms, legs, and other places that made him raise an eyebrow, for more than just one reason. 

“Am I interrupting something?” came Yennefer’s voice, accompanied by the rush of air that her portal created. 

He ripped his hands away from his lap as he stumbled over his words, trying to explain, “I was just relearning my body. You know, considering I’m pretty much a human now.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Well, if you’re done with that, I have good news.”

Jaskier crossed his arms as if he could hold himself together after a wave of embarrassment came over him. “Alright, what is it?”

“I’ve found someone that has agreed to travel with us to the coast. It’s going to take him a while to get to us, so in the time being, I’m going to teach you how to walk.”

“Won’t that take months?”

She shook her head. “Your legs should already be strong enough, since they were made of your fully grown tail. All you need to learn is balance and technique.” 

“Okay, let’s get started,” Jaskier said as he tried to move his legs over the side of the bed, and nearly fell off.

“This is going to be a long process,” Yen grumbled as she caught him by the arm to keep him still.

It was a bit of a struggle for Jaskier to get the hang of his new feet, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as Yennefer had feared it would be. She had to admit that she was stunned that he proved a quick learner. It only took him a few days to manage shuffling around with the assistance of his hand on the wall. He had to admit that he felt sort of trapped inside of the inn at that point, so he made it a priority to learn how to go down the stairs, to at least get some new scenery. It was only a small bit of motivation, but it was enough to keep him getting back up every time he fell. 

He had to display quite a lot of self-control not to start cheering once he finally made his way down the staircase behind Yen. He knew that it would attract plenty of unwanted attention if he did, so instead, he quietly followed her towards a table near the back of the tavern area with a smile. The two of them sat there quietly while Yen counted her money and Jaskier occupied himself by gazing around the room. A young woman sat perched on the corner of the bar with a lute in her lap. Even though her hair was closer to bronze, she still reminded him of Irena.

“Who wants a song?” she called out to the group gathering around her.

Her question was met with cheers of approval and people shouting out requests. She then began to play an upbeat tune that her audience clearly knew as they clapped and sang along. It wasn’t long before Jaskier was nodding his head along to the music as well.

“I’ll be right back,” Yen announced over all the noise, rising from her seat and heading towards the bar herself.

A minute later, the song the bronze-haired girl had been playing ended, and an older woman shouted, “Play ‘The Siren’s Call’!

“No! That song is too slow and depressing!” Another member of the crowd yelled.

The girl lifted a hand from her instrument and suggested, “How about whoever offers me a better price gets to pick out the song?”

There were several grumbles from the group and Jaskier couldn’t see what was happening from where he sat, but soon found out who had won when the girl said, “Looks like it’ll be ‘The Siren’s Call,’ my friends!”

This new song was, in fact, much slower and quieter, yet the girl’s melodious voice traveled throughout the tavern with ease. Something about the sound of it felt like a quiet warning.The next few lines of the song caught his interest in a way the rest hadn’t. 

‘Oh, dear girl, dear girl, do you hear the siren’s call? 

Dear girl, dear girl, do you know, shouldn’t stall?

Run home now, run home, there’s no safety out at sea.

He comes for the pretty girls, like you and me.

The siren will trick you, make you his friend.

Then he will take you to meet your end.

Oh, dear girl, Irena, did you know…’

Jaskier didn’t even bother to listen to the rest as he lifted himself from his seat and walked out of the inn faster than he’d ever moved before on foot. The cool night air greeted him with a pleasant breeze. Thankfully there were no witnesses to the grief that was now clawing through his chest.

Word apparently traveled fast in the human world, and the tale of what had become of his friend had already been spun into a ballad of caution where he was the monster. He found a spot to hide in shadow as he sat with his back against the side of the inn and clasped his head in his hands, trying to calm himself. He remained there long enough that he knew that Yen had probably noticed his absence, and knew she would come searching for him soon enough.

Letting out a long sigh, Jaskier picked his head back up, telling himself that he needed to pull himself together. The second his gaze rose from his palms; he saw a tall figure approaching the building slowly. When the soft light from the lanterns inside the inn touched their eyes, they reflected in a way that Jaskier was fairly certain a human’s eyes shouldn’t. It reminded him of a bright yellow flame. His breath caught in his throat. Could it be who he thought it was? His eyes remained trained on the other individual, blinking hard several times when their face came into focus. 

He couldn’t believe it. What were the odds that they would run into each other like this yet again? 

“Are you alright over there? Did you get too far into your cups?” that familiar gruff voice questioned, right as Geralt was about to step into the inn.

“I haven’t had anything to drink, actually,” Jaskier responded as he got to his feet with only a minor struggle. “But considering that I’m seeing you once more, someone must have slipped me something without my knowing. I have to be imagining things because there’s no way this is happening again on pure luck alone.”

Geralt arched an eyebrow as he turned away from the entrance of the inn.

“I apologize,” Jaskier went on as he stepped into the dim light. “I’ve changed quite a bit since we last ran into each other.”

Now, Geralt’s expression shifted from indifference to bewilderment. “What the fuck happened to you? I would’ve thought you’d be dead by now.”

“I got a little help from a friend, and now I’m a free man.”

“You’re still a merman,” Geralt pointed out, as if Jaskier might have somehow forgotten that.

In a moment of panic, Jaskier crowded Geralt and pressed his hands over Geralt’s mouth, hissing, “Don’t say that so loud!”

Geralt ripped Jaskier’s hands off of his face, exposing the snarl now there, and right when he went to speak, Yen stepped outside. 

Her eyebrows shot up as she remarked, “It’s about time you finally got here.”

Of _course_ , Geralt was going to be the one accompanying them.

When neither of them spoke, Yen went on, “Well, I can see that you two already know each other. Shall we continue this conversation inside then?”

Jaskier and Geralt exchanged a quick awkward glance before following Yennefer inside of the inn, and then they all settled back at the table to discuss their upcoming trek. 

The very next morning, they were setting off at last, and Jaskier decided that he would start the trip on foot. He said that it was practice getting better on his feet, but in reality, he just didn’t want to be sore from riding the horse just yet. It was quiet that first day and, for the most part, staying focused on his movements kept Jaskier’s thoughts preoccupied. Now and then, though, they would drift to somewhere dark. It didn’t help that the song from the previous night had managed to get itself stuck in his head, so in a way, the thoughts never truly left.

He found that one of the downsides of being more like a human was the fact that he was now able to sweat. It only took him a few hours on the trail to become uncomfortable with the state of his body, so he brought it up to Yen.

“How does your kind deal with feeling so… gross?” Jaskier questioned as he struggled to find the right word for how he felt. 

Yennefer raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re going to need to elaborate.”

“I just feel, I don’t know, dirty?”

“Right, well, that’s what baths are for,” she explained in a slightly condescending tone. 

“I don’t even know what a ‘bath’ is,” Jaskier remarked with a bit of sass.

Yen let out a sigh as she rolled her eyes and proceeded to explain the basics of bathing to him before finishing with, “All we need to do is find you a body of water.”

“Couldn’t I just use one of those tubs you mentioned? They sound wonderful.”

“We can’t,” Geralt pointed out, finally breaking the silence he’d kept up since this morning.

“Why not?” Jaskier questioned, disappointed to have his request put down so quickly.

“Because we would have to head to a village to do that, and the next one is that way,” Geralt explained as he motioned to the right and then pointed to the left saying, “and we’re heading this way.”

It was clear from his tone that the topic wasn’t up for debate, but that didn’t stop Jaskier. “Would it put us that far behind? Besides, we have to sleep somewhere, don’t we?”

“We’ll make camp somewhere when it’s closer to dusk.”

“You can’t be serious! Why would anyone want to sleep out here when things like beds exist?”

Geralt didn’t respond to that. Instead, he turned to face the trail with a harsh glare.

Yennefer reached out to give Jaskier a hard pat on the shoulder, murmuring, “Looks like you're going to have to settle with my suggestion after all.”


	6. Chapter 6

By the time they came across a river, the sky was starting to shift into the colors of orange and pink. Thankfully, Geralt decided that it would be alright for them to stop there for the night. While Geralt and Yennefer busied themselves with setting things up, Jaskier took the soap Yen had given him and hurried off to the river. After struggling a bit to get out of the garments he had been wearing, he tossed them into the tall grass surrounding him before turning his focus to the slow flow of the water, ready to get the grimy sensation off of his skin finally. 

“Are you sure that he should get in the water?” Geralt asked Yen as he paused from gathering wood. 

“What do you mean?” Yen responded as she brushed the coat of the gray horse, which she’d named Storm earlier that day. 

“Aren’t you worried he’ll turn back?”

She shrugged. “There’s only one way to find out.”

“And what do you plan to do if he turns back into a merman?”

“You could always tie him to Roach and toss a bucket of water on him every couple of hours.”

“Be serious,” Geralt shot back as he placed a protective hand on his horse. 

Jaskier had hesitated on getting in the water at the start of their argument, but he felt odd simply standing there exposed. Back when he had been a merperson, the more intimate parts of him hid without his assistance, now that wasn’t the case anymore. So having only the grass to cover him got old quickly, and Jaskier decided that it would be worth the risk to at least save himself from possible embarrassment. Now disregarding the other two arguing, he stuck a toe in the river. 

Nothing about him changed or even felt different, so he continued to submerge himself. The chill of the water felt refreshing against his skin as he went deeper, and in a way, it reminded him of the sea. It didn’t take him long though to notice how different it was to be in water where he couldn’t float. His feet kept getting stuck in the mud and stabbed by sharp rocks with every step he took. Jaskier had begun to grow irritated over how tender these new appendages were as he thought back to his tail and how strong it had been. 

Even though his tail had played a large part in his problems, he still knew that he could depend on it no matter what. It had only been during his imprisonment in that cursed bubble that it had failed him. Gazing down at the wavering outline of his legs in the current, a growing urge to see if he could swim with them came over him. He swiftly took care of cleaning his body and nearly dropped the soap into the water several times in his haste to test his idea.

Once he was done with the task of bathing, Jaskier set the soap on a flat stone at the edge of the riverbank before turning back. He waded along until his feet barely skimmed the bottom and then let himself fall back into the water. It took him less than three seconds to realize that he’d made a mistake as the water flooded his nose and burned in a way that it never had before. Jaskier started flailing and shouting as he went under, and because he no longer had gills to filter out the liquid, it went straight to his lungs.

It took quite a lot of effort in the middle of his panicking to break through the surface to cry out, “Yen! Help!”

The once calm looking river seemed much more threatening now as it dragged him back under. 

He could hear Yennefer and Geralt fighting and was able to make out the words, “Fuck. I told you that he’d turn back!”

“No, I think he’s drowning,” Yen responded, sounding surprisingly frantic. “Get out of my way.”

Due to all of Jaskier’s thrashing around, the mud clouded the water, taking away his sight as well. The sound of a great splash met his ears past the rest of the noise made by the rushing water surrounding him, but he knew that it meant Yen was coming to his rescue. Sizeable hands reached out, to his surprise, to grab him by the waist and tug him out into the air. Jaskier coughed and sputtered when it fully dawned on him that he was clinging to Geralt. Before he could do or say anything about it, though, the witcher dumped him on dry land next to his few belongings. 

“It wasn’t even that deep,” Geralt muttered as he strode away.

“I don’t even know if I want to say thank you now,” he grumbled as he hurried to pull his breeches back on, now highly flustered. 

“I wouldn’t even bother. He’s never been all that good at accepting appreciation anyway,” Yen said as she placed a blanket over his bare shoulders.

That caught Jaskier as odd, but he decided not to press the issue any further. He then picked up his shirt and made his way over to the newly made fire to dry off. The fact that he still felt somewhat dirty didn’t go unnoticed either, but he wasn’t about to go back in the water right after all that. 

Despite the fact Yen had spoken against it, Jaskier still peered at Geralt from across the firepit and said, “Thank you for helping me back there.” 

Geralt merely let out a hum of acknowledgment and continued to stoke the wood around. Jaskier chose to watch the flames, instead of trying to get anything else out of Geralt, as his mind drifted off against his will, recalling how helpless he had felt under the water for the first time in his life. He had a sickening feeling that Irena’s last moments must have felt like that. Thoughts of the way the salt water must have invaded, burning in her throat and nose, made him want to puke. How could have he just left her there like that? To suffer that way.

Without a second thought, Jaskier got up and made his way to a bedroll that had been laid out a bit further than the other two. He had a feeling that this one was meant to be Geralt’s, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care right then. He just needed to be alone, and the best way he knew how to do it was to sleep.

Several days later, Jaskier had grown used to traveling on foot. The steps he took were much more measured and sure now, something he was secretly proud of. His complaints had even dwindled to being a minimal occurrence, but it turned out that the same thing couldn’t be said for Yennefer. One mid-afternoon, she made it clear that she was at her breaking point. 

“I need food,” she announced with a fed-up sigh.

“We have plenty of—” Geralt began, but she cut him instantly with a murderous glare.

“If you mentioned something that has been cured, dried, or anything like that, I’ll shove you into a briar bush.”

“Should we hunt for something then?” the witcher questioned, clearly feeling put out.

“Gods no. I need something that’s been properly cooked and seasoned with something more than salt. I don’t even care if I’m the one paying for all of us.”

“Well, alright, but the next village isn’t for several miles. By the time we reach it, it’ll be nightfall.”

“I guess that’s where we’re sleeping tonight then,” Yen stated in a matter of fact tone and steered Storm past Geralt so she could lead the way. 

Geralt’s eyes flicked over to Jaskier before he motioned his head in Yen’s direction as if to tell him to go first.

Jaskier chuckled and softly remarked, “You act like she’s going to hurt you.”

“I wouldn’t put it past her, some days,” he muttered as they both glanced at the mage. “She’s more powerful than you’re aware of.”

“Oh, trust me, I have a pretty good idea of it,” Jaskier replied, kicking a rock as if to wordlessly make a point by using the legs she’d given him. 

“Let’s just hurry before she gets the urge to use her magic on me this time around.”

It turned out that Geralt had been right about them reaching a town by dusk, but they were lucky enough to find a tavern just on the outskirts of it. The place was bustling and buzzing with quite a lot of people, but Yen didn’t hesitate to approach, hellbent on getting what she wanted. 

Geralt, on the other hand, hung back with the horses, saying, “I’ll be in there in a minute.”

Jaskier wavered in one spot as he took notice of the conflicted expression on the witcher’s face. He wondered if there was something that kept Geralt from wanting to go in with them, and just what that might be. Then he recalled what Irena had told him, about the stories of witchers being mindless killers. Surely these people didn’t believe that as well, did they? Then again, Jaskier barely knew Geralt-- he had no way of truly knowing what Geralt or anyone else in his profession was capable of doing. 

He blinked several times as he came back to the moment and shook his head slightly, feeling awkward for having just stood there like that, making a fool of himself. So to save himself from total embarrassment, he asked, “Do you want me to tell Yen to get you anything specific?” 

Geralt shook his head before guiding the horses away from the tavern. Jaskier then hurried to escape inside to find Yennefer. The interior of the building was packed with so many people that he had to dodge and skirt his way around them. It took him several minutes to finally spot Yen, who was taking three drinks from the man behind the bar with a surprisingly warm smile that made Jaskier grin and cock an eyebrow at her.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” she questioned, handing him one of the cups.

Jaskier waited until they had moved away from the bar before teasing, “I saw the way you were smiling at him. I think that’s the friendliest I’ve ever seen you be with anyone so far.”

Yen rolled her eyes. “I’ll be more than willing to befriend anyone that offers me proper food and drink at this point. If I’d had to choke down any more of the shit that Geralt keeps on him, I was going to find the nearest monster and feed him to it.”

He let out a sharp laugh. “Well then, remind me to never deprive you of your wants and needs.”

“A wise choice,” she remarked with a soft chuckle. 

Jaskier thought it was some sort of miracle when Yennefer somehow managed to find them an empty table to sit at. They then both took sips of their drinks and waited for their meals in comfortable silence. Then he noticed that there was yet another woman playing a lute, stationed in the corner of the room. How many more of them was he going to have to run into? Surely there couldn’t be that many of them. 

This woman appeared to be in her early thirties, and her hair was a few shades darker than his, meaning she thankfully looked nothing like Irena. The song she played, on the other hand, still reminded him of his lost friend. It was one of the many that Irena had taught him to play, and he began to softly sing along as he watched the woman make her way throughout the room. 

She smiled and winked at the patrons as she performed, and every time they tossed coins her way, she would bow slightly or do a spin. Her approach to playing was much livelier and more mischievous than what he’d seen before. He had to admit that he enjoyed it a good deal more than the previous show. 

“Well, it looks like you’ve attracted the attention of the bard,” Yen murmured as the owner of the tavern placed their plates on the table in front of them. 

“The what?”

“The woman singing and playing the lute. She keeps stealing glances over here.”

“Why is she called a bard?”

“Because that’s her job?” she shot back sarcastically, clearly not in the mood to talk, now that she had what she wanted at last.

Jaskier hushed after that, deciding to simply eat and watch the bard sing. It didn’t take him long to become aware of the fact that Yennefer was right about the woman keeping an eye on him. When the song she had been performing ended, she sauntered over to their table with a friendly smile before taking a seat right next to Jaskier.

“I hope my ears weren’t deceiving me when I heard you singing a moment ago. You’re good enough that you should be the one providing the entertainment,” the bard commented as she adjusted the strap of her instrument.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jaskier could’ve sworn that he saw Yen roll her eyes at the woman’s words, but she remained silent. 

Unsure of what to say back to that, Jaskier decided to respond with, “I wouldn’t want to keep you from doing something you’re already wonderful at on your own.”

“Then I say we should sing the next song together. What do you think?”

“Um, alright, I guess, but I don’t know that many songs.”

She waved aside his remark. “We’ll just go along with one that you do, darling.”

Jaskier wasn’t certain how to feel about her overly friendly behavior, but he didn’t get the impression that she was trying to flirt with him. So he began to list off the songs that he knew, and by the fourth one, her hazel eyes lit up. She seized his arm and hauled him out of his seat.

“Ah, I almost forgot to ask, what’s your name?”

“Jaskier,” he replied without hesitation. He knew better than to announce his birth name to a total stranger.

The bard gave him a delighted smile. “A man not afraid to be called a flower, how refreshing. I’m Bianka.” 

Bianka then turned to face the rest of the tavern, declaring, “Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to my new friend Jaskier, who’s going to accompany me in this next song! I trust that all of you will give him a warm welcome!”

The crowd gave a bit of polite applause, but nothing like what she had received just moments ago. That didn’t deter Bianka in the slightest as she began to pluck at her lute, and Jaskier had no choice but to follow her lead as she sang out the first few words. He took in a deep breath before launching into the song, hoping that he could at least keep up.

By the end of it, he realized that it wasn’t as daunting as he’d feared. The people of the tavern seemed to like their tiny performance. Something about that small amount of praise gave Jaskier a sense of exuberance that he didn’t think he would’ve felt, but he wanted more of it. 

So he decided to take a risk by requesting, “Would it be alright if I played your lute for the next song?”

“Do you know how?” Bianka asked even while she was lifting the instrument’s strap from over her head.

Jaskier nodded. “A friend taught me a good amount on how to play.”

She held the lute out to him. “Let’s see what you’ve got then.”

There was yet another quick discussion of which song they were going to do next. They ended up choosing one that was relatively short, upbeat, and the second Jaskier started singing and playing, the whole tavern turned its focus to him. Bianka slipped out a wind instrument from somewhere at the side of her bosom and followed his lead.

“Oh, fishmonger… oh, fishmonger, come quell your daughter’s hunger…” He sang out to the people surrounding the two of them as the crowd slowly began to keep the beat by clapping along.

Jaskier felt as if his heart was going to leap out of his chest from the joy he felt to have this many individuals supporting him for once. It was freeing not to have judgmental or scornful looks cast at him as he paraded about the room. He thought to himself that maybe he should ask Yen to call this whole thing off, to let him stay human. That way, he could travel throughout the human world, become a bard himself, and never have to worry about becoming the next king of the Great Sea. Everyone would get to be happy, and no horrible things would have to happen again. 

At the end of the song, several people approached him and Bianka to offer money and drinks, patting them on the back with loud laughter. They lavished him with praise— remarked that he was gifted, he made his performance look as easy as breathing, and he had a voice fit for the gods. It delighted him to no end. Even Yennefer raised her cup to Jaskier as the crowd led him to the bar. It felt like the evening couldn’t get any better, like he was on an uphill climb after this moment. Then something by the door caught his attention. 

“I don’t give a shit who you came here with!” the previously-friendly tavern owner screamed in Geralt’s face. “I’m not letting something like you in my establishment!”

A hush fell over the room as the tavern-goers shifted their focus to the witcher. All of a sudden, the patrons joined in on yelling abuse at Geralt, voices rising to a deafening roar. His expression shifted into something irritated and tired. 

“Hey!” Jaskier called out. “He’s here with my friend and me! Leave him be!”

The flock of people paid him no attention, some even moving to surround Geralt. Even though Jaskier knew that he didn’t stand a chance in a fight, he could at least try to defuse the situation. 

He swallowed hard, steadying himself mentally before climbing on top of the bar. “I said, leave him the fuck alone!”

Once more, the whole room had their eyes on him, but their expressions had turned hostile this time.

“Why do you care?” one of them questioned.

“Because he’s with me,” Jaskier replied with a firm tone, hoping that would settle the matter.

“Then you both need to get the hell out of here!” the owner exclaimed, much to Jaskier’s dismay.

Jaskier shrugged before turning his gaze over to Yennefer, who was watching this whole display with an unreadable look on her face. “Yen, would you mind grabbing the rest of our food? I think I would rather eat outside with the horses. At least they’re better company.”

“You can’t take those plates! That’s stealing my property!” the tavern owner shouted some more.

Jaskier didn’t know much about the value of coin among human kind, so he grabbed several pieces and threw them at the owner’s face.

“That should cover the cost,” he said with a cheeky grin, but before he could move another inch, half the hands in the building were reaching out to grab him. 

Geralt shoved past the throng of people and hoisted Jaskier over his shoulder with a grunt of effort. Jaskier’s head snapped in the direction of where Yennefer had been sitting, hoping that she hadn’t gotten caught in the chaos. There seemed to be a breeze coming from nowhere in that area. She must have taken a portal out of there.

“You’re fucking insane; you know that, right?” Geralt snapped as he continued to carry Jaskier towards the stables as fast as his feet would allow. 

“Half of that tavern was going to try to attack you!” Jaskier exclaimed as he tried to steady himself by pressing his hands to Geralt’s muscular back. “Was I supposed to just stand by and watch?”

“Why does it even matter to you?”

“Look, I know we’re far from friends, but that doesn’t mean I believe that you deserve to be treated like that!”

“What are you two arguing about?” Yennefer’s voice came from out of nowhere as Geralt forced Jaskier back onto his feet.

“It doesn’t matter,” Geralt said in a low tone as he mounted Roach. They took off without another word.

Yen let out a sigh before holding out Jaskier’s now-cold plate to him, making it clear that she wasn’t going to pressure either of them about it any further. Jaskier, on the other hand, couldn’t let the matter drop, even though it clearly made the witcher angry. Something about what happened at the tavern reminded him of the way the merpeople from his kingdom acted towards him. It had never gotten to the point of threats of violence, but he had a feeling that if he hadn’t been royalty, it could have.

He scarfed down what was left on his plate before rushing after Geralt on foot, demanding, “How can you say that it doesn’t matter? In what world is it alright for you to be treated like that?

“We don’t all get to live a life where people are constantly seeking your approval. Not everyone lives in so much luxury that they think a hard journey is merely an adventure. The world doesn’t work the same for everyone-- for some, it’s a never-ending battle just to exist. You should give that some thought.”

All of the wind left Jaskier’s sails after that, and he let himself fall back to Yennefer’s side. Eventually, he let himself lag even more until he was behind both of them. He needed to give himself some time to sort his thoughts out about where to go from here. Did he want to stay a human? Could the world truly be as cruel as Geralt made it out to be?

It was plain for him to see that his once-joyous evening had come to a close, and now he was left with only that familiar ache in his chest. He decided that he would worry about the answers to his questions tomorrow. 

Somehow they managed to build a fire and set up camp in the dark, just outside the edge of town. This was all done in relative silence, but once everything was taken care of, Yen sat down on the edge of Jaskier’s bedroll. 

Her amethyst eyes searched his face before she asked, “Where did you learn how to play a lute?”

Jaskier was somewhat surprised by her question, but he understood how it must have looked back at the tavern for him to just suddenly be able to play the lute like that. He had been a merman when they’d first met, after all, and such an instrument couldn’t survive in water. Yen didn’t know anything about Irena, and even though Jaskier was hesitant to talk about her or any of the time they’d spent together, he wasn’t feeling up to being alone with his thoughts right then, either.

“My friend Irena taught me. I wish I’d thought to grab her lute when we left her father’s home. It’s all I had to remember her by.”

Yen’s eyebrows shot up. “You were friends with Tobiasz’s daughter?”

He nodded wordlessly, but he could tell by the way Yennefer seemed to be waiting for more of an explanation that he couldn’t leave it at that. So he told her about all that he could about Irena--not just the lessons. He had to admit that he hadn’t expected her to sit there, listening to him in silence as he recounted the story. Jaskier figured that she would’ve grown bored or tired by now, but she continued to display rapt interest even as he got to the last part of the story. 

“You clearly cared quite a bit about her,” Yen remarked as the tale finally came to a close, and Jaskier noticed that the once-roaring fire was now turning into embers. When he looked back at her, he saw that she had one of the softest expressions he’d ever seen on her face. “You make it sound like what happened to her was all your doing, but there was no way you could’ve known that starting a relatively harmless friendship would end this way. I know someone just like you who blames himself for the choices of others. He believes that he too cost a woman her life, but she made her decision. Even if you can’t see it, Irena made the choice to keep coming to see you. She knew the risks. I think you and he both need to understand that you can’t constantly be in control of everything, and especially not other people.”

“Who are you talking about?”

Her gaze flitted over to the spot behind him before lightly nodding in that same direction. Jaskier didn’t have to turn to know that she was speaking of Geralt. 

“If you two would take a moment to stop butting heads, I think you’d find that you have a lot more in common than just that,” she pointed out as she got up to head to the small tent that she’d built. Just before she disappeared inside, she added, “If you tell anyone that I told you all that, I’ll seal your mouth shut.”

Jaskier let out a breath of a laugh and nodded at her. 

He lay there for a while, watching the fire slowly die as he pondered over Yennefer’s words. Would there ever come a time where he didn’t hold himself fully responsible for the death of his friend? Jaskier peered over at the silhouette of Geralt’s back, wondering just how he managed to deal with his guilt, or whether it still ate away at him too. Those questions ran through his mind over and over until he fell into a troubled sleep.

By the time he woke the next day, the sun was high in the sky. Jaskier blinked the blurriness from his eyes, confused as to why he had been allowed to sleep for so long. As he took in his surroundings, he noticed that Yennefer was nowhere to be found.

“She went back into the village to pick up some supplies,” Geralt explained when he saw that Jaskier was awake.

“When did she leave?” Jaskier questioned as he sat up.

Geralt stopped cleaning his sword to peer up at Jaskier. “It’s been a while, but I know that she’ll be fine.”

“How can you be sure after what happened at the tavern yesterday?”

“Because I know that she’s more of a threat than nearly all of the people in that village combined. Trust me, I’ve seen some of the things she’s capable of,” he remarked and then chuckled to himself, apparently recalling one of those times.

That statement made Jaskier curious. What were these two to each other? It felt wrong to immediately ask that sort of question, so he decided to try a different approach. “How long have you two known each other?”

“For quite a while.”

“You two must be fairly close then.”

Geralt’s face scrunched up as he shook his head slightly. “People like Yen and I don’t get close to others, especially not each other. It’s more of a situation where we take turns doing favors for each other.”

“Ah, I guess that makes sense,” Jaskier murmured, now out of ideas for ways to naturally continue the conversation. 

He wasn’t sure why, but he wished he could have known a way to keep Geralt talking, even if it wasn’t about the topic at hand. His best guess at it was because the witcher was still a total mystery to him. Of course, he could say the same thing about most of the people he’d been around lately, but there was still something that set Geralt apart from them that he couldn’t put his finger on.

“What made you ask?” Geralt questioned, pulling Jaskier from his thoughts, and he could’ve sworn there was a hint of amusement in the witcher’s expression. 

Jaskier gave a nonchalant shrug. “I just wondered.”

“Are you sure that’s it?”

“What other reasons would I have?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

Jaskier could tell now that Geralt was getting a kick out of this from the glint in his eye, and then he understood what Geralt was truly asking him. “Are you implying that I’m romantically interested in her?”

“Are you not?”

“No, I’m not. Don’t get me wrong; she’s stunning in more ways than one, but…” Jaskier trailed off, trying and failing to find a better way to put his words. So he simply relented, mumbling, “She reminds me of my mother.”

“Isn’t that meant to be a good thing?”

“I suppose so; it’s just--” Jaskier cut himself off. “Why does it matter to you either way?”

He found himself starting to piece together the idea that maybe _Geralt_ was the one interested in her, despite what he had said moments ago. 

A thoughtful expression appeared on Geralt’s face. “I wanted to ask since you tend to hover around her most of the time.”

“Well, it’s not like you’ve ever been the most approachable person,” Jaskier muttered as he got to his feet.

“And she is?” Geralt asked in a tone of disbelief. 

Jaskier went to make a retort, but then the sound of hoofbeats had them both looking in their direction. He stole a glimpse back at Geralt to find him now gripping his sword as he swiftly rose from the log he’d been sitting on. Jaskier could only stand there anxiously awaiting whoever was approaching at such a fast pace, but that feeling morphed into concern when he saw that it was Yennefer riding back on Storm.

“We have a problem!” she shouted as she gave a tug on the horse’s reins, enough to bring the animal to a halt. 

She then leaped off in such a fluid motion that Jaskier wasn’t sure if he was more impressed or frightened. He could only stare at her for a moment as he watched her rush around haphazardly, gathering her things.

So Geralt had to be the one to ask, “What’s going on, Yen?”

She whipped around to face the other two with clear distress in her lilac eyes, but then she focused solely on Jaskier. She shook her head, and his confusion continued to grow even as she spoke. “Jaskier, your father is dead.”


	7. Chapter 7

“No,” Jaskier breathed as his knees gave out and he fell to the dirt, but it felt like he might as well have fallen through the world itself and that he was now drifting among the stars. He was vaguely aware that two pairs of hands were scrambling to sit him up as he struggled to even think straight enough to ask, “How do you know? Where did you hear that?”

Yennefer held his face in the palms of her hands, making sure that he was paying attention. “I ran into another mage that had just come back from the shore of the Great Sea. He said that the people that live there are on the verge of war with the merpeople.”

That’s when Geralt decided to cut in. “How do we know that he was telling the truth?”

“I took a portal there myself after I spoke with him, and judging by the state of things in the village, it’s true. There was a fish merchant selling a large stock of fishing spears, saying that they would help in defending their people. Several guards were even stationed around the edges of the settlement. They said they were guarding against another surprise kraken attack.”

“But why?” Jaskier questioned as a bit of clarity came back to him. “My father would never want to do something like that. He didn’t even want our kind to have anything to do with humans in general.”

“Supposedly, the conflict began right after his passing, when their new king took the throne.”

“Valdo did this,” he whispered to himself. That was the only explanation that made sense to him. “I knew that he’d go to some horrible lengths to gain the crown, but I never imagined that he’d take it this far.”

Before the words were even all the way out of his mouth, Irena’s lifeless eyes flashed in his memory like lightning. If his brother could take an innocent stranger's life, what other lengths would he be willing to go to?. How many lives was Valdo willing to sacrifice to gain power, and what might he do to keep it?

“Do you think your brother killed your father to take his place?” 

“Countless royal families have stabbed each other in the back before. It could easily happen in Jaskier’s family too,” Geralt pointed out.

Yen’s expression turned hard. “He was meant to be the next king before you were born, wasn’t he?”

“Why would that change who gets the throne? It’s always the eldest that’s next--”

Jaskier shook his head before Geralt could finish. “That’s not the way it works in my kingdom. The youngest rules next, so that they can have the longest and most successful reign possible. My two brothers before Valdo, were deemed unfit by the court as children after their training. So when Valdo was born and went through the same trails, they figured that he would be exactly what they were after. No one expected me to come along. Regardless of how they felt about me being half-human, I passed all of their tests. Then, even though the royal court and advisors wanted to say that I was still unfit, my father refused to let them take away what was rightfully mine.”

“Why couldn’t the queen just have another child after you if they were so against you being the king?

“She did. She had my sister Ciri after losing several more before her, though her birth nearly killed my stepmother. So she’s been told that she can’t have any more children unless she wants to risk dying the next time around. They told her that all the complications were caused by the prolonged stress she’d been going through in the years after I was born. I knew she truly hated me from that moment on, because of what I took from her.”

All three of them were at a loss for words after that, but Jaskier’s thoughts were far from quiet. An overwhelming sense of fiery hate overcame him, enough to muffle the anguish in his heart, and he knew what had to be done. He had to go back and save his people. He had to let go of the short-lived dream of remaining human. This was bigger than him and his wants. If there was the threat of war between the land and sea, he would have to put an end to it by reclaiming the throne. His father would want him to.

No matter how he felt about being the king of the Great Sea, no matter that he’d never been accepted, it didn’t mean that he believed they all deserved to suffer because of it. He couldn’t handle the thought of adding another name to the list of people whose deaths he had caused. 

“We need to take a portal back to the shore right now,” Jaskier demanded even as he struggled to lift himself into a sitting position. “I know that I can handle it.”

“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Yen demanded as she forced him to stay put with her hands firmly pressed to his shoulders, meaning that he was made to lay his head back in Geralt’s lap. 

Jaskier risked a glance up at Geralt to find him giving Yennefer an indecipherable look before casting those golden eyes down onto him. Jaskier swiftly redirected his gaze back to Yen, feeling somewhat flushed, but he chose to ignore it.

“Just because you’ve gotten better at walking doesn’t mean you’ve gained all of your strength back,” Yen went on as if nothing slightly strange had just happened. “On top of that, I’m sure Adriana put you through enough portals that if you took even one more, it would turn your insides into liquid.”

That irked Jaskier. “We don’t have time to continue making this trip on foot. For all we know, half of my kingdom could be dead by the time we reach them!”

Yen let out a frustrated groan before relenting. “Alright, I have an idea. I’ll go see if I can make some sort of potion that a human could handle consuming that will let you travel by portal. In the meantime, you and Geralt will have to continue the journey on foot. I’ll meet you at the shore to turn you back into a merman if I can’t find anything before then. That’s the best I can do for you right now.”

As much as Jaskier disliked her plan, he knew that he had no other choice, so he gave a firm nod. “Let’s get moving then.”

Yennefer parted ways with Jaskier and Geralt soon after that, and when they had packed up their camp, they hit the road as well. Traveling with only Geralt wasn’t too different compared to how it had been with Yen, but after a few hours, the silence became unbearable to Jaskier. He knew that the best way to get a quiet person to talk was to ask questions about them. After all, almost everyone loved to talk about themselves. 

“So, what made you decide to become a monster hunter?”

Geralt looked at Jaskier from out of the corner of his eye as if he might’ve been speaking to someone else. He worried that Geralt wouldn’t respond when he turned to face forward once more. 

“I didn’t choose to be a witcher.”

“Then how--”

Geralt gave him a sharp glance as he cut him off. “It’s none of your business.”

Jaskier rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Do you remember what I said about you being unapproachable? This is a perfect example.”

Geralt let out a hum of acknowledgment, but refused to make any remark after that. 

Now Jaskier had nothing to distract him from his awful thoughts about what had become of his father. He wondered just how his father had met his end. Was it quick and painless, or did he suffer the way Irena must have? Even though their deaths weren’t brought about by his hands, he knew that it was his fault in the ways that mattered. If he had just done what he was told in the first place, Irena never would have met him, and King Aldric would’ve had many years still to rule. Now the future that he was always meant to face would happen sooner than planned. Destiny was calling out to him, and he had no choice but to answer.

A tear slipped down his cheek, and he swiped it away with a quick hand, hoping that Geralt hadn’t noticed. Jaskier risked a glimpse at the other man and unfortunately caught him averting his gaze. He let out a soft sigh. A part of him wished that Geralt would ask why he was crying, but he remained mute, just like always.

It continued on like that for two days, both of them riding in silence as Jaskier did his best to hide his frequent tears and failed. To Jaskier’s surprise, Geralt then led them into a town, and when he asked what they were doing there, Geralt merely shrugged.

“I thought we were going out of our way to avoid villages?” Jaskier questioned as he gently urged Storm to ride alongside Roach.

“I need some more supplies,” Geralt muttered as his gaze continued to drift to the villagers that had begun to take notice of the two of them. “And I’m going to need your help getting some of them so we can leave quickly.”

“Um, alright, so what is it that you need?”

Geralt listed off several items, and Jaskier then made sure to repeat them to himself as they parted ways. It was a bit of a challenge, since he was also trying to make sure he remembered how to get back to the inn they’d agreed to meet at once they were done. 

Thankfully, most of the things Geralt had requested were inexpensive, and the merchants would nod as they handed the goods over. Then he reached a stall with an elderly woman quarreling with a little boy over the cost of the glass vial clutched in her hand. How much could sword oil even cost?

“Please, ma’am, my father needs this for his work,” the boy pleaded to her with the saddest face he could manage. 

“I told you the price, and I’ll take nothing less,” she remarked in a firm tone. “You must remember that this is also a job, and I need proper pay to live off of it.”

Tears swam in the boy’s large brown eyes as he nodded and turned to leave.

“Wait!” Jaskier called out without thinking, but he decided to carry on anyway. “How much for that oil?”

The saleswoman raised an eyebrow at him before replying, “Three crowns.”

Jaskier fished the amount out of the tiny pouch Geralt had given to him and held it out to the woman. She and Jaskier made the exchange quickly, and he handed the small bottle over to the boy. 

The child’s face lit up as he ran over to Jaskier to wrap his short arms around his legs, exclaiming, “Thank you so much, sir!”

Jaskier let out a surprised laugh, lightly patting the boy on the shoulder blade, before the child let go and ran off. Then, just in the distance, Jaskier spotted Geralt observing him with an expression he couldn’t make out.

“So, what are you in need of, young man?” the saleswoman asked, bringing his focus back to the task at hand. 

“Oh, right. I need the same thing actually,” Jaskier explained as he dug through the pouch and found that he only had two coins left. “Well, fuck.”

“The same rule applies to you too.” 

“But I just--”

She held up a hand to hush him. “Just because you did that boy a favor doesn’t mean I’m going to give you one in return for it.”

“That isn’t fair,” Jaskier argued as he gestured to the vial of sword oil. “What’s one coin to an amount of oil that small?”

“Well, if you don’t like my pricing, go bother someone else,” she muttered as she turned her back to him.

Jaskier peeked over his shoulder to find that Geralt was on his way over. He really didn’t want Geralt to know that he had just given away some of the witcher’s coin, so he turned back to the saleswoman, intent on finding a way to bargain with her. 

“Do you happen to have any more in a smaller bottle?”

She didn’t even look at him as she shook her head no while adjusting things around her stall. He could understand where she was coming from, but he was more worried about how Geralt would react about Jaskier shorting him for no good reason. He really didn’t want to be reprimanded for his hasty decision.

The saleswoman faced him once more with an unamused expression on her face, clearly planning to tell him off yet again, but then her gaze shifted to just behind him. A ripple of fear crossed her features before clouding over with revulsion. Jaskier knew what her look was about when he heard the sound of muffled footsteps at his back. 

Geralt held out a single coin to the saleswoman, disregarding her glower. 

“That should cover the rest, then,” Jaskier murmured, unsure of how else to break the tension. 

“I refuse to do business with those of your kind,” the woman growled as she recoiled away from his outstretched arm.

Jaskier plucked the coin from Geralt’s palm and held all three coins out to her with an unnecessary flourish in the motion. “There. Now you can say that you’re making a deal with me instead.”

She gave a firm shake of her head. “That doesn’t change the fact that it will be going to a witcher, and I will not have my business associated with mutants.”

Jaskier’s jaw dropped in outrage, and his voice cracked slightly as he cried, “Listen here, you miserable--”

Geralt clamped his hand over Jaskier’s mouth before he could finish his sentence, and he struggled against the witcher’s grasp to the point he nearly managed to pry the man’s fingers away. 

The witcher hauled Jaskier against his chest to hiss in his ear, “If you say another word, she’s going to call over someone much bigger than you, and they’ll beat you to a pulp. _Now let’s go._ ”

Even though there was nothing pleasant about Geralt’s words, Jaskier felt an involuntary shiver race down his spine. He told himself that it was just because Geralt’s lips had brushed over his ear, and he simply wasn’t used to that sort of contact. Despite that, his reaction made him jittery enough that he nodded at the other man’s words just to get him to let go. Geralt thankfully released him after that, and Jaskier had to take in a deep, steadying breath before he followed after the witcher. 

Something slowly dawned on him as they traveled through the village that he found odd. There was something about that shivering sensation that reminded him of the day he’d been taken from the shore. It brought to mind the moment he and Adriana had somehow gotten blown back through the portal without her touching him. It was nearly a perfect reflection of what he’d felt that day. The frantic heartbeat, the sense of being pressed upon by an unknown force, and that full-body tingle. The only difference now was that it wasn’t caused by the same amount of panic. 

His mind was so preoccupied with that rather small detail that he didn’t take notice of the oddly shaped bag that was slung over Geralt’s back. It caught his eye when they began to make camp for the evening when Geralt removed it from over his shoulder.

“Something on your mind, merman?” the witcher questioned.

“I don’t know why you would still bother calling me that,” Jaskier remarked before nodding at the bag that was now propped against the base of a tree. “What’s in that new bag?

“Something I grabbed in town while you were trying to pick a fight with an elderly woman.”

Jaskier felt his cheeks heat up. “Sorry about that back there. I just reacted before thinking it through.”

“What made you want to help a stranger like that?”

Jaskier brushed a swift hand through his hair and found it that was easier to speak when he didn’t look at the other man. He bit his lip momentarily before confessing, “I guess I just didn’t like the idea of that boy failing his father.”

Geralt stopped gathering firewood at that, and even though he could feel the weight of those golden eyes upon him, Jaskier didn’t take his focus from setting out the bedrolls. 

But his next words finally brought Jaskier to a halt. “The thing in the bag is yours.”

His head shot up in Geralt’s direction. “What is it?”

“Open it, and you’ll find out.”

Jaskier yet out a small huff of air; it irked him when Geralt decided to be vague like that. Despite his annoyance, Jaskier wanted to know what the witcher had actually gone out of his way to get him. He was a bit hesitant to approach the bag for a moment-- what if Geralt was playing a joke on him? Then he reminded himself that Geralt was most certainly not the type to do something like that. 

He brushed aside his irrational thoughts as he forced himself to reach out and take the bag into his hands. The shape and weight hit him with such a sudden instant blow of familiarity that he nearly dropped it. Instead, he kneeled to the forest floor, and with slightly trembling fingers, opened the bag to reveal a stunning dark brown lute.

“How? Why?” Jaskier struggled to think of just what he wanted to ask or even say first as his fingertips glided over the gold swirling detail on the front of the instrument’s body.

“I bought it off a luthier. The person who originally commissioned it was killed not too long ago, so he wasn’t too upset to part with it at a lower-than-usual price. I know that it won’t replace the one that belonged to Irena, or take away any of the pain you’re most likely feeling, but I figured that it could be an alright little distraction if you wanted one.”

Jaskier could only gape at him. He could hardly believe that the witcher had gone out of his way to get him a gift.

Geralt must have taken his silence as Jaskier disliking his gift, as he continued, “I know that I can be a difficult traveling companion, so I figured that this would be something to at least make it more bearable.”

For once in his life, Jaskier was unable to speak, so he decided to attempt to express the way he felt through action. With the lute still in hand, he dashed over to Geralt and threw his arms around the man’s thick frame in a tight hug. Jaskier felt him tense at his sudden physical contact, but then Geralt eased up slightly when he seemed to realize what was going on.

“This means more than I can ever say,” Jaskier murmured, doing his best to hide how emotional the gesture had actually made him. 

It was such a strange and wonderful sensation to have someone do something for him just because they felt like it, and not for some other hidden motive. When Jaskier let him go, Geralt gave him a pat on the shoulder, but Jaskier could’ve sworn in the light of the sunset that the witcher had gained a bit of a blush.

Jaskier had to admit that he was somewhat amazed that Geralt didn’t become irritated with his nearly constant lute playing, but he figured it was more of a thing of pity than the witcher actually enjoying it. He even got to the point that he could sing bits and pieces of songs as he plucked the strings.

“As often as you play that thing, you’d think that you were a bard in a past life,” Geralt remarked one afternoon with a ghost of a smile.

Jaskier felt an odd little kick in his chest at the sight, but chose to ignore it. “It would’ve been a nice thing to be if that were possible. Traveling throughout the land, meeting all sorts of people, and simply being free. I guess it would be sort of like what you do.

The witcher shook his head. “It would be far from the same.”

“How’s that?”

“People would actually want you there.”

Frowning, Jaskier thought about the way people tended to speak of and to Geralt. “Why are the humans so rude to you?”

“It isn’t just me; they despise witchers in general.”

“But why? Don’t you all protect them from the countless different monsters around that could kill them? What real reason would they have to hate all of you?”

Geralt explained what Irena had once mentioned to him about all the stories of bloodthirsty witchers, and just as he had suspected, they were merely tall tales. Geralt described how witchers were chosen, the trials they had to face, and the subsequent poor treatment that they’d receive as soon as they left Kaer Morhen. It was the most Jaskier had ever heard Geralt speak. Even though it was about terrible things, he found himself hanging onto the witcher’s every word.

Jaskier let out a breathless little laugh when Geralt finished. “And I thought I had it bad in my kingdom.

The other man raised an eyebrow at him. “What sort of hardships does a prince face? Picking out who’s going to be in his harem? Deciding whether he’s going to wear his silver or gold crown?”

That made Jaskier chuckle then as he shook his head. “First of all, princes aren’t allowed to even wear crowns, and they’re made out of precious shells.”

Geralt rolled his eyes as he waved away his words in an almost playful manner.

Jaskier took in a deep breath before beginning the shameful process of explaining what his life was like back in the Great Sea. He knew that it was nothing compared to the hardships Geralt must have faced over the years, but that didn’t take away the pain and loneliness his own life had given him. It must have been the fact that Geralt had actually been willing to share something about himself with Jaskier that made the words tumble past his lips easier than he’d expected. He told the witcher about his accidental conception, the disdain he received for being half-human, and his brother and stepmother’s hatred over the fact he would be the next to take the throne.

“Is that why you want to go back? To reclaim your place as king?”

The next statement surprised even Jaskier, as he whispered, “The last thing I want in my life is to be king.”

“Then what is the point of going back?”

“I have no choice. You heard what Yennefer said-- they’re on the verge of war. I can’t leave them all to simply die like that, just because of how they made me feel. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself, knowing that I could’ve prevented it.”

“You’re choosing the lesser evil,” Geralt remarked under his breath.

“The what?”

“The lesser evil. It’s when you have to pick between two things that are both horrible in their own rights. You just have to decide which one you can deal with keeping you up at night. I was given a choice like that once, and I decided to pick neither. Then the choice was made for me.”

“I’m sorry that you didn’t get the same luxury of choice that I have.”

The moment of silence that followed was heavy. The only sounds were the hoofbeats from Roach and Storm and the forest around them. Jaskier’s thoughts lingered over the fact that he had been so willing to tell Geralt those private things about himself. He had to admit that it was probably because he felt that, in a way, they were quite a bit alike. Glancing over at the witcher, he wondered if Geralt shared the same sentiment.

Two days later, they ran into a new problem-- they were out of food. Jaskier half expected Geralt to yell at him or something of the sort.

Instead, he just let out a sigh before muttering, “I really need to teach you how to ration better.” 

“Should I go into the next town we pass to buy us some supplies?” Jaskier questioned as he continued to brush Roach’s mane, glad that she had finally taken a liking to him.

“We’re too far from any villages now,” Geralt pointed out. “I’ll just hunt for something in the meantime.” He gathered his potions bag and sword. “Just keep watch over Roach and Storm until I get back. I shouldn’t be gone that long.”

Before Jaskier could even agree, Geralt was trudging through the line of trees.

Now that he was alone, Jaskier felt vulnerable for the first time in a while. Even though he knew that Geralt kept plenty of weapons in Roach’s saddlebags, it didn’t ease the feeling that he was being watched by countless unseen eyes. Just for a small bit of reassurance, Jaskier took out a small dagger and slipped it into the waistband of his breeches before resuming his task of tending to Roach. As soon as he was done with her, and she seemed to approve of his work with a friendly bump of her nose to his chest, he moved on to Storm.

Every now and then, Jaskier would steal a glimpse up at the sun as it made its steady trek across the sky. It took him a while to truly start questioning where Geralt was by then, but less time to decide that he was going to try to search for the witcher. After all, how hard could it be to find a bulky man with blindingly white hair? He made sure to tie the horses securely to a thick tree before setting off on his own into the woods.

Jaskier regretted the idea as soon as the dense foliage blocked out the sun until there were only mere glimmers of it left. It reminded him of being just below the waves with the surface world only an arm's length away, but here in the forest, it felt much more suffocating. He began considering turning back the deeper he went with no signs of Geralt, and then a faint rustling sound made him freeze in place.

“Fuck, I should’ve just stayed back at camp,” Jaskier whispered to himself as his eyes darted around the woods, searching for the source of the noise

A dark shape sprung from the tall brush at his right and slammed him to the ground with so much force that it knocked all of the air out of his lungs. Even if he had been able to breathe at that moment, the sight above him was so frightening that he didn’t know if he even had it in him to scream. The beast pinning him to the ground had to be one of the ugliest things he had ever seen with its grayish skin, misshapen head, and prominently thick fangs.

Its claws dug into Jaskier’s shoulders as it let out guttural grunts and sharp shrieks. The creature opened its reeking maw and struck out at Jaskier’s throat. He shut his eyes and waited for the pain to come, but all that he experienced were sounds. A blade singing through the air, the beast letting out another ear-splitting scream, and the thud of a body landing on the ground beside him. Jaskier’s eyes snapped open to discover the monster impaled into the dirt by a sword and dark blood gushing out from somewhere at its back.

“Get out of the way,” Geralt ordered as Jaskier stumbled to his feet.

The second Jaskier was behind him, Geralt wrenched the blade out of the thing’s chest, but it was quicker than he’d expected. The monster sprung to its feet and then jumped into a nearby tree. It roared in pain as blood continued to pour from its wounds, but that didn’t slow it down by much. Geralt drizzled a strange sort of liquid on his sword, but that second of inaction had been a mistake. The beast lunged at Geralt as a burst of energy came off of it that kicked up dust and knocked Geralt onto his back. 

Jaskier noticed that Geralt had lost his sword before even the witcher had himself. Panic coursed through Jaskier, and without thinking, he ran out from the back of the tree he had managed to hide behind. He made a grab for the sword, but the creature smacked him away with the back of its huge paw, cutting his chest. Even though he was bleeding quite a bit now, the thing didn’t seem the least bit interested in Jaskier as it set its sights back on Geralt

It seemed hellbent on going after the witcher as if it intended to return the favor for the injuries he had given it. The sting in Jaskier’s chest became coupled with a tingle and a pressing sensation, feelings that he was starting to become familiar with. It gave him a new wave of strength as he forced himself off of the ground. The monster used another burst of energy to keep Geralt pinned to the forest floor. Jaskier knew that by the time he reached the sword that the beast would have already torn Geralt’s throat out. Jaskier felt as if he was going to be sick from how helpless he felt.

He then became aware that his hands were unusually warm, and he risked a glance down to find that the veins in his wrists and palms were glowing bright blue. His jaw dropped at the sight; did this mean he could do magic like his mother? With no time to hesitate, he held out his hands towards the creature and focused on pushing that energy outwards. 

Like a bolt of lightning, that light shot out of his palms and struck the thing in the back. It didn’t make a sound as it toppled over, nor did it move afterward. A strange hush fell over the woods. Shockingly, Geralt was the one to break it. 

“How the fuck did you just do that?” Geralt questioned as he sat up, his gaze darting from the creature on the ground and Jaskier. “You killed it.”


	8. Chapter 8

“I--I don’t know.” Jaskier stuttered as he stared at his upturned hands, now holding no sign that they had produced any sort of light. “It only seems to happen when I’m panicking.”

“Is that a normal thing that merpeople can just do?”

Jaskier shook his head.

They both seemed unsure of what to do after that, but after a minute, Geralt got to his feet and retrieved his sword. He nodded for Jaskier to follow him and then headed back in the direction of their camp. 

Jaskier cast one last look at the slain beast. “What even was that thing?”

Geralt waited until Jaskier was walking alongside him before explaining, “It’s a garkain. They’re a lesser vampire, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t extremely dangerous, and not to mention, hard to kill."

Jaskier nodded as he took in the witcher’s words, understanding that what he had just done was something highly powerful. Yet again, he was wrapped in his thoughts as they packed up their camp. Why hadn’t these powers shown themselves sooner? How could he go about finding a way to control them? 

“So it turns out that there may be a village nearby,” Geralt remarked once they’d finished up.

“What makes you think that?”

“If a garkain was hanging around this forest, it has to mean that there are people close by that it would have been hunting.”

“Does that mean we’re getting food from there?” Jaskier questioned as his stomach gave an uncomfortable twist at the mention of eating.

“Yes, and a bath while we’re at it. There’s no way river water is going to get us totally clean after that.”

That idea lifted Jaskier’s spirits a bit. Yen had made baths sound wonderful, and he was looking forward to finally trying one. In light of what had just happened, Jaskier was ready to put as much distance between himself and the garkain’s corpse as possible.

Geralt managed to find the town with relative ease and then wasted no time seeking out the closest inn. The place was nearly empty when they stepped inside, and the woman gave them a long look that Jaskier feared would be followed by a rude comment.

“A witcher and a bard traveling together, now I’ve seen it all,” she remarked with a chuckle. “I’m guessing you two need a bath?”

“Yes, please,” Geralt murmured as he put several coins on the bartop. “And whatever food you have prepared.”

“Do you need rooms?”

“Just one.”

A slow smile spread across her lips as she nodded. “Very well. Just give me a moment, and I’ll have everything prepared for you two.”

Jaskier was somewhat confused by her reaction, but all of his curiosity fled from his mind when she slipped into another room only to reappear moments later with two plates of food. He didn’t even bother taking a seat before digging into his meal, but he did pause for a second when a low rumbling sound caught his ear.

“Did you just chuckle?” Jaskier questioned with his mouth full, perplexed by the faint hint of amusement on Geralt’s face. 

Geralt gave a small shrug before turning his attention to his own plate. After that, they ate in peaceful silence.

Jaskier felt as if he was about to doze off by the time he had finished his meal, but that was when the owner of the inn returned with a stack of towels under her arm. 

“So, who’s going first?” Jaskier questioned as he took the two towels she held out to him.

“Oh, I made you both baths. It’s more of a question of which room you want.”

After that, as soon as he was alone in the room that held the large tub, he began to tug his shirt off, which he instantly regretted. The action had, unfortunately, reopened the wounds he had received from the garkain. Four bright red and bloody scratches that ran from his left collar bone to the right side of his ribs greeted him, throbbing with their own pulse. 

“Fuck,” Jaskier hissed as his fingertips prodded the edges of the long gashes and the holes its claws had made in his shoulders.

He was so focused on looking over his injuries that he didn’t notice the door opening in front of him, or that Geralt had slipped inside until he cleared his throat. Jaskier nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound. His head snapped up to find that the witcher was standing before him without his usual armor on. Jaskier had never seen Geralt shirtless up close; the sight made air get stuck in his throat. 

It took him a second to regain his composure before he exclaimed, “My gods, Geralt, you almost scared me to death! What are you doing in here?”

“I could hear you from across the hall. It sounded like you were in pain,” he explained as he reached out to touch the top corner of one of Jaskier’s cuts. Jaskier flinched away. “You should put something on these, so they don’t get infected.”

“Right,” Jaskier murmured, doing his best to keep his eyes above shoulder level to retain his focus. “How would I go about getting that?”

“I should have some sort of salve that you can use,” Geralt replied before making his way back to the other room.

Jaskier used his small amount of time alone to compose himself and his now flustered thoughts. It wasn’t like there hadn’t been small whispers of thoughts about how Geralt looked in the back of his mind, but now wasn’t the time for them to be coming to the surface like this. When Geralt returned with a small jar of ointment and bandages in hand, Jaskier had to force himself to give the witcher a tiny smile. 

“You should probably clean yourself up before we take care of dressing your wounds,” Geralt suggested as he set the things down on the table next to the bathtub.

“Alright,” Jaskier agreed with a nod and began stripping down to nothing, doing his best to ignore the protests of pain his body gave him from the movement. When he turned his attention back to the witcher, he noticed that his face and neck had gained a bright red tint. The sight concerned him a little; it might have been an effect of the garkain attack. “Are you okay? You look a little flushed.”

Geralt seemed to actually stumble over his words as he muttered, “I’m fine, it’s just... this room is a bit warm from the steam.” 

Jaskier had a feeling that wasn’t the case. Had he managed to embarrass the witcher? He was rather proud of that. In a way, if that was the case, he felt that he was returning the favor for Geralt barging into his room shirtless like that.

As he climbed into the tub, he inhaled sharply at the heat of the water. Jaskier bit at the inside of his cheek in an attempt to suppress the discomfort and began to clean himself off. It was no time before the water turned a murky brown, though he hadn’t even gotten to take care of his cuts yet. Geralt clearly noticed this too, as he got up and brought over the bucket of water the innkeeper had said was to rinse with, along with a clean rag.

“Hold still,” Geralt said in the gentlest tone Jaskier had ever heard from him. “You seem like you’re still on edge.”

Jaskier wanted to point out that part of it was because the witcher was looming over his exposed body with only cloudy water to cover him. It didn’t help that a sudden realization had hit him like a rogue wave--Geralt was stunning. There _had_ been a handful other times when he had found himself looking at the witcher for too long, or had a stray thought that Jaskier would brush aside, but nothing like this. Maybe it was because his nerves were raw over the possibility that they could’ve died back in that forest. Or the state of undress they were both in, or even their close proximity.

Simply thinking about those things made his face burn as he watched Geralt gingerly dab at the scratches. As he took in the sight before him, Jaskier noticed that the flickering light from the lantern in the corner of the room reflected in Geralt’s eyes, reminding him of shimmering gold in the afternoon sun.

“Something on your mind, Jaskier?” Geralt questioned as he lifted his gaze up to meet Jaskier’s. 

“Your eyes are glinting,” Jaskier blurted out, but swiftly saved himself by asking, “How is that possible?”

Geralt shrugged. “It’s just another one of my many mutations from being turned into a witcher. It tends to frighten people.”

Jaskier could tell that saying this bothered Geralt, so he chose to be more truthful. “Well, I think they’re captivating.”

The genuine astonishment that sprung up on Geralt’s features made Jaskier chuckle. At least, until he noticed that the witcher had stopped taking care of his injuries and was studying him with those yellow eyes.

“Are you aware that yours do the same?

“My eyes?” Jaskier questioned as he leaned closer to Geralt. It was like the pull of the tide by the moon--something that he had no control over.

Then, without warning, Geralt sat up straight, putting some space between them and breaking the spell cast over the both of them. Jaskier wanted nothing more than to sink under the bathwater and stay there until it drowned him. What the hell had he been thinking? Had he actually intended to kiss Geralt? It was as if his body was trying to force his mind to catch up to what it had already become well aware of a while ago. 

The rest of their interaction was silent and uncomfortable, at least for Jaskier. He didn’t dare risk a peek at Geralt’s face to attempt to decipher how the other man was feeling as he continued to tend to the wound. Jaskier just kept his eyes forward and waited for it to be over. 

When he finally got out of the tub, Geralt made sure to turn his back to give Jaskier some privacy, and right then, he was grateful for it. Jaskier picked up his still-dirty clothes and let out a long sigh when he saw the jagged rips in the fabric from the garkain’s claws.

“That thing ruined my clothes,” Jaskier muttered as he tried to mentally prepare himself for putting the soiled things back on.

“You can borrow some of mine,” Geralt suggested, peering over his shoulder at Jaskier, who had a towel wrapped around his hips. “They might be a bit big on you, but they should work.”

“Oh, okay, thank you,” Jaskier murmured, now unsure of what to say or do.

Geralt seemed to sense his uncertainty and saved him the trouble of replying. “Just gather up the bandages, and I’ll meet you in our room to finish dressing your wounds once I’m done washing up. The clothes are in the bag at the foot of the bed."

The witcher then strode out of the room, and Jaskier did as instructed. He had hoped that once he was alone again that some of his shame would dissipate, but it clung to him like a thick fog, weighing him down. As he got dressed, he reasoned with himself that it was foolish to even consider something happening between him and Geralt. He was getting ready to become the king of the Great Sea, meaning that he would have to find a wife among the merpeople to pass on the royal lineage. There was no way he could have anything outside of that. The tiny ember of their possible relationship had to be stubbed out before it grew to be anything more than a small spark that happened on a strange adventure.

Jaskier sat down on the edge of the bed and gripped his head in his hands, letting out a quiet sigh. It turned out that Ciri had been right about him developing feelings for others quickly. Why was he like this? Maybe, he reasoned, it was because so few people had shown him any sort of kindness before, or had even made any indication that they wanted to stick around. When they did, he became almost too enthusiastic about it. 

Jaskier forced himself to remember that Geralt wasn’t taking this journey simply because he wanted to. This had been a favor to Yen, and was just another job to him. Jaskier needed to let this go.

It appeared that, just like all the times before, Jaskier was going to lose someone he cared about before anything even had a chance to begin. It seemed to be happening quite frequently lately. His mother, his father, Irena, and now Geralt. At least, in this instance, Geralt wasn’t going to be among the dead. They would just be a world apart, and in some twisted way, that felt just as bad.

Jaskier scoffed at his own overdramatic thoughts. He tried to tell himself that he was looking too far into this. What happened just minutes ago was a single moment, which had clearly been a mistake, and he should just leave it at that. Geralt was doing him a favor, in a way; after all, he couldn’t long for something he was never going to have.

Somehow, Jaskier managed to fall asleep curled up at the bottom of the bed, and only awoke when Geralt gingerly shook his shoulder. 

“Sit up for a minute,” Geralt murmured as Jaskier blinked up at him. “I’ll get this bandage on you, and then you can go back to sleep.”

Jaskier groggily did as he was told, pushed himself into a sitting position, and removed his shirt without a word. He allowed Geralt to dress his wounds while doing his best to ignore the feeling of the other man’s touch. 

Once Geralt was finished, Jaskier slipped his shirt back on and got off of the bed, murmuring, “I’ll just use my pallet to sleep on the floor. You can have the bed.”

“The bed is big enough for the two of us,” Geralt pointed out.

“I know, I just figured that you would want some space.”

The witcher let out a long sigh. “We need to talk about what happened in the other room.”

“We need to talk,” Jaskier repeated with a dry laugh. “That’s rich coming from you.”

“I’m serious,” the witcher insisted as he took a seat on the edge of the bed. “I need you to at least hear me out. Now, come sit down. I hate watching you pace around like a cornered animal.”

Jaskier paused midstep, caught unaware of what he had just been doing. He brushed a hand through his hair as he thought it over for a second and decided that he should at least give Geralt a chance to speak. Their journey would be unbearably awkward otherwise. 

So he relented by sitting on the other side of the bed. “What did you want to say?”

“We can’t do this.”

“Last I checked, we weren’t doing anything,” Jaskier replied with a sarcastic edge to his voice.

Geralt let out a frustrated huff. “You know what I’m talking about.”

Jaskier remained silent. He didn’t know what the witcher wanted from him at this point. 

“Look, I’ve had the same urges as you.”

“You _have_?” Jaskier interjected, unable to keep his shock at bay.

The witcher nodded. “I’m just better at hiding them than you. In fact, I’m almost certain that I was more aware of your feelings before even you were.”

“But how?”

“The change in your heartbeat was the easiest hint to pick up on, and then I would see the look in your eyes. Then it was your scent--”

Jaskier cut him off with waving hands. “Okay, okay, I think I get it now.”

Geralt gave a soft laugh. “It started that night we actually properly met in that grotto...”

“And now it has to stop here,” Jaskier finished where Geralt left off and then shook his head as he let out a weak laugh. “Do you know how ridiculous we sound right now? We barely even know each other."

Geralt hummed in agreement and then opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped himself as he got up to turn down his side of the bed cover. Jaskier gave him a questioning look, so Geralt remarked, “We should get some sleep before we’re kicked out in the morning.”

Jaskier nodded and did the same with his side of the bed. He was unsure if he had trouble sleeping because of his accidental nap or if it was from the heaviness in his heart.

To keep things from becoming weird on their final days of the journey back to the shore, Jaskier and Geralt spent a lot of their time trying to figure out how to hone in on his magical abilities. It turned out that Geralt was actually a great teacher and all Jaskier had to do to call forth his gift was to focus on it, harness it, and then channel it out of his body. Of course, so far, he had only managed to produce random balls of lighting and caused a few burn marks on some trees, but it was progress.

“I just wish I could find a way to make a portal on my own so we could hurry up and get to the sea. I hate not knowing whether my family and my people are safe.”

“Well, the only way to find out if you can is to keep practicing. Now, try to hit something small, like those yellow flowers over there.”

Jaskier followed the witcher’s line of sight to discover that he had been talking about the cluster of buttercups several paces in front of them. He chuckled before remarking, “It’ll be like I’m aiming at myself, in a way.”

Geralt nodded before something seemed to dawn on him. “I’ve meant to ask, is that actually your real name?”

“No, it’s actually Julian. My mother gave me the nickname Jaskier back when I was a kid.”

“Do you know why she chose that?”

Jaskier gave a small nod before confessing something that no one else knew, because no one had ever taken the time to ask. “It was one of her ways of trying to cheer me up. She said that I was like a buttercup because something wonderful to look at, but I held so much more on the inside.”

“That’s an interesting comparison, considering that buttercups are poisonous.”

He grinned. “That was the point. She wanted me to feel like I held some sort of secret power that no one else was aware of. She knew that I felt like I didn’t belong with the other merpeople, and I knew that I could never be a part of the human world. So she tried to make it seem like it was something special.”

Jaskier then held his hand out towards the bright yellow buttercups and focused all of that energy, all of that pain into the palm of his hand. He took in a deep, steadying breath as Geralt had instructed and let go. That bright blue bolt shot out of his hand and incinerated that section of the field, but when the fire died out, they both saw that it had made a perfect circle around the flowers, leaving them untouched.

“I think your mother knew a lot more about what you could be than she let on,” Geralt murmured as he stared at what Jaskier had just done.

Jaskier smiled softly to himself. “I think I’m starting to get the hang of this.”

Geralt shook his head at him, chiding, “Don’t get too cocky. That wasn’t even a moving target. It’s a lot different when the thing you’re going after doesn’t stay still.”

“Hm, how about we give that a try then?” Jaskier asked as he rounded on Geralt, invading the witcher’s space more than he had meant to, but he carried on. “Are you up for it?”

Geralt cocked an eyebrow at him, and his retort nearly made Jaskier trip over his own feet as he murmured, “I don’t know if you could handle it.”

Jaskier knew that he had to be a brilliant shade of red at this point, but he still had a suggestive enough response readied in the back of his mind. Then he remembered that there was no point in keeping this game going, since it was soon going to end anyway. So he reigned himself in before he said what he’d been thinking and turned back towards the path.

“I think that’s enough practice for today,” he mumbled as he moved to straddle Storm and urged the horse on without another word.

It was the smell of salt in the air that first let Jaskier know that they were nearly back to the shore. He was unsure how to feel about going back to the sea after being gone for so long, but he told himself that he would find a way to deal with it, just like he did with everything else. 

After their awkward interaction in the field a couple of days ago, Jaskier and Geralt had managed to get back to normal for the most part, but there was still a melancholy feel to it now. They knew that this was the end. They were like a song that never got past the first chorus, and yet somehow, the tune remained stuck in the heads of anyone that heard it. Jaskier knew that he was being quite dismal and over-the-top, but he felt so cheated by his own life. None of it seemed to be up to him, and he was going to be as forlorn as he wished, because at least that he could control.

“So, do you have any sort of plan for how you’re going to face your brother?” Geralt questioned, pulling Jaskier out of his head. 

“Not at all,” Jaskier admitted with a weak laugh. 

The witcher sighed heavily, but then he shocked Jaskier by saying, “I’ll help you.”

“What? How?” Jaskier demanded as he gawked at the other man like he had lost his mind. “You’re human, for Meliete’s sake!”

Geralt shook his head. “I’m a witcher, meaning I can hold my breath longer than any human can.” 

“That doesn’t mean that you can handle the water pressure! Nothing that lives on land can withstand it!”

“Well, then I guess you should bring the fight up to me,” Geralt pointed out with a grin that Jaskier had to pretend he didn’t enjoy. 

“I’m assuming this means I have no choice but to come up with a way to deal with all of this now, don’t I?”

Geralt merely nodded. Jaskier would never say it out loud, but he was glad to think that he would have someone like Geralt fighting on his side. He would take whatever he could get to keep them together for even just a little bit longer.

It was nearly dusk by the time they reached the beach. Looking around, something instantly struck Jaskier as off. It wasn’t the guards patrolling the edge of the village by the sea or the way the water seemed to churn as if it wasn’t totally caused by the waves alone. His eyes scanned the shoreline, and he noticed a pile of rocks that he had never seen before. It took a moment for his mind to fully understand what he was witnessing, but when he did, he let out a gasp so sharp that it hurt his throat. 

It must have startled Geralt too because he instinctively reached for his sword as he questioned, “What is it?” 

“The grotto,” Jaskier choked out, feeling as if his lungs were filling up with water as he tried to speak. “They destroyed the grotto where I used to meet up with my mother and Irena.”

It wasn’t the worst blow Jaskier had suffered during this series of awful events, but it felt as if someone had just smacked him in the face just because they could. 

“Why would the people of the village do something like that? What would be the point?”

“It wasn’t them,” Jaskier murmured as he brushed away a few of the stray tears that began to slip down his cheeks. “It was Irena’s father. He knew from Irena what that place meant to me. This was most likely his final message to me. I took away his love, and he took away what was left of mine."

Something seemed to break inside of Jaskier when Geralt placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Without thinking, he turned, buried his head into Geralt’s chest, and began to sob. His fingers clutched at Geralt’s shirt, crying until he couldn’t anymore. Only at the end, Jaskier became aware that the witcher had carefully put his arms around the other’s shoulders. They stayed like that until Jaskier had calmed down a bit more before heading down to the shoreline.

Geralt then made a fire pit on the beach, hidden away from the prying eyes of the village on the other side of what remained of the rock that made up the grotto. They sat there for quite some time, just staring into the flames.

“I wonder if there’s anything left for this life to take from me at this point,” Jaskier muttered as he scooped up a fist full of sand and let it slowly slip through his fingers before repeating the process over and over. “I’m down to almost nothing now.”

“Well, in the end, none of us get to keep anything. Life gives and takes things until it finally decides to make you one of the things it takes next,” Geralt mused as he moved to sit beside Jaskier, but continued to watch the crackling fire. “Even though the amount of kind people I’ve met over the years is few, it makes me appreciate them all the more when they are around, because I know that eventually they’ll be gone.”

“But what do you do when you feel as if it’s all your fault that they were taken away?”

“You keep their memory with you and honor it.” Geralt grabbed his sword from where it had been resting on the sand. He held the hilt out to Jaskier, using his free hand to point to the circular decoration on it. “This was a brooch that belonged to a woman named Renfri. I only knew for a very short time. I got caught up in her revenge plot and had to end up taking her life, but I’m fairly certain Yennefer explained that to you already.”

Jaskier traced his fingers over the golden object, selfishly wishing that he still had some piece of the people that death had taken from him.

As if Geralt could read his mind, he added, “Even if I didn’t have that, her memory would still be with me. Your mother and Irena will still be with you, even without a tether to this world.” 

Jaskier gave a small nod, knowing that Geralt’s words were true. Even without physical things, their memory would remain in his heart. It felt strangely good to be having this sort of conversation with Geralt; it was clear that he was well acquainted with the feeling of loss. Jaskier doubted that he would ever meet anyone else like the witcher that understood him in the same way. He wondered and hoped that Geralt might feel that way too, that maybe their short time together would stick with him long after as well.

So he decided to figure it out through a slightly veiled question. “If you only knew Renfri for a small amount of time, why does she still matter to you so much?”

“I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice. Just because my time around her was short doesn’t mean that she didn’t mean something to me.”

Jaskier gave a dry laugh. “It seems that I’m going to be making that same mistake.”

“What do you mean?”

“I got too close to someone that I’m going to lose.”

Silence fell over them for several minutes as they both turned their gazes back to the fire. Jaskier listened to the waves. They seemed to be calling him back and taunting him at the same time.

“You know, I never thought this was going to turn out this way,” Geralt commented as he fed another piece of driftwood into the fire. “I figured that I would simply be doing Yen a favor by getting you back here, and that would be it. I would just move on to the next job, but somehow you ended up meaning something more than I had thought possible. I’m not certain if it’s merely because you seem to be a reflection of me in some of the strangest ways. I see parts of myself in you that I’ve never seen in anyone else. Or if it was because the moment I met you, you’ve seemed to always find your way back into my life.”

“It’s almost like it was Destiny,” Jaskier murmured as he turned his head to Geralt with a sad sort of smile.

“It’s a cruel one if that’s the case. Why introduce a possibility just to take it away?”

“Maybe that’s its way of forcing us to come to terms with what we truly want and what we’re willing to risk to get it. You’re right, though, it does seem like such a waste.”

Geralt’s eyes met his once more. The firelight danced over his face in such a way that he appeared otherworldly. Not like a monster, but a god in his own right. There was always something mesmerizing about seeing Geralt in just a shirt and breeches. It was like seeing him relaxed was some sort of gift, and Jaskier wished that he could keep it. Right then, he wanted nothing more in the world than just to stay right where they were. Jaskier wanted to say to hell with his responsibilities, with who he was supposed to be, and just follow the witcher wherever he might lead.

“You mentioned a while back that my eyes glinted in the light. I never actually told you what I wanted to say that night, because I was scared. But seeing as this is probably the last time we’ll be around each other, I might as well say it. Your eyes do the same.”

“Oh, yeah, it’s part of the whole living in such a dark environment…” Jaskier explained, but trailed off when Geralt held up his hand for a second.

“But yours are completely different. They turn iridescent, like your tail,” Geralt murmured as the space between them grew smaller with every word. “They’re like two of their own oceans inside of you.”

Jaskier let out a breathless laugh as he whispered, “But I’m from the sea.”

“And yet what you are is so much bigger than that. You’re like an opal ocean,” Geralt breathed, before closing the distance between them with the soft press of his lips.


	9. Chapter 9

When Jaskier had imagined their first kiss, he hadn’t pictured it like this. This was so tender that he felt tears well up in his eyes as their kiss deepened. Jaskier cupped Geralt’s sharp jaw as he leaned into the other man’s broad chest, while Geralt tangled his fingers into Jaskier’s soft brown hair. It was clear now that they weren’t putting much thought into what came after this moment. Jaskier crawled into Geralt’s lap, and the other man grabbed his hips to help Jaskier straddle him. Being this close to Geralt had Jaskier’s nerves singing and his heart racing to where he knew it must have sounded like a war drum to the witcher. 

Geralt was more than alright with this-- his free hand slipped underneath Jaskier’s baggy shirt as the meshing of their mouths became more intense. Jaskier shivered slightly as the tips of Geralt’s fingers traced up his spine, Jaskier gripping his shoulders through the thin fabric of his shirt. Jaskier trailed kisses from the corner of Geralt’s mouth, across his stubbled jawline, and down his neck. The witcher inhaled sharply as Jaskier’s teeth scraped against his pulse. Then Jaskier became aware of something pressing against the back of his thigh.

“Jaskier,” Geralt gasped as Jaskier continued to suck at his skin. “How far do you want this to go?”

Jaskier nuzzled his face into the space between Geralt’s neck and shoulder before whispering, “As far as you’re willing to take me.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“I’ve never wanted anything more.”

Geralt pulled slightly back from him, golden eyes searching Jaskier’s face for a moment, most likely looking for any hint of dishonesty or apprehension. He clearly found none; he reconnected their lips and pressed Jaskier’s body tighter against his own, before shifting them around until Jaskier was laid out on Geralt’s bedroll. Jaskier lay there, panting as he stared up at the witcher. He was nearly trembling with excitement as Geralt climbed over top of him. He arched his back when Geralt tugged at the hem of his shirt, asking permission to remove it. Geralt tossed it to the side as soon as it was off, and Jaskier lifted his hands to return the favor.

Jaskier’s fingers roamed over the scarred skin of Geralt’s bare chest while Geralt slowly rocked his hips against Jaskier’s thigh. A small sigh escaped Jaskier’s mouth at the feeling of Geralt’s thick length, letting him know that this was having the same effect on him as it was on Jaskier. In response, Jaskier ground his hips up to meet Geralt’s. Tingles raced down his spine at the friction, so he repeated the motion. They then began moving against each other in a steady rhythm that had them both panting, until Geralt sat up on his knees.

“Why’d you stop?” Jaskier questioned in a breathless voice as he held his arms out to reach for Geralt. 

“Because if I keep going, this isn’t going to last much longer for either of us,” Geralt murmured with a smirk before dipping his head down to the base of Jaskier’s throat and inhaled deeply. “Remember, I know your scent a lot better than you think.”

If it were possible, Jaskier felt himself grow harder, to the point where his breeches were now uncomfortably tight. He began trying his best to untie them, fighting against the slight shake in his hands, but Geralt gently took over for him.

Jaskier risked a shy glance up at the witcher, finding Geralt giving him a reassuring little smile before saying, “It’s alright, we’ll take this as slow as we need to.”

Jaskier nodded, feeling his heart melt and speed up simultaneously as he held up his hips to help Geralt guide his bottoms off. The witcher’s gaze went from Jaskier’s face down to his cock.

“Well,” Geralt murmured as he ran his hands up Jaskier’s thighs with a grin. “I’m glad to see that this part of you is most definitely human.”

Since Geralt was a bit out of swatting distance, Jaskier gave the witcher a small jab with his knee to the other’s abdomen as he let out a breathy laugh. Geralt caught Jaskier’s leg by the bend of his knee and used it as leverage to spread his legs apart. Jaskier barely had time to process what Geralt was doing before the witcher had shifted himself around until he was at eye level with Jaskier’s lap. His breath caught in his throat when Geralt’s large hand wrapped around his shaft, making Jaskier shiver slightly as his fingers sank into the warm sand at the sides of the bedroll. Geralt kept his eyes locked on Jaskier’s as he trailed his tongue from the base to the tip of his cock.

Jaskier hissed, hips involuntarily jerking up at the sensation, forcing Geralt to hold him down before repeating the action. A sigh escaped Jaskier as Geralt’s mouth engulfed his length until his nose brushed Jaskier’s stomach. Jaskier had to bite his lip to keep himself from crying out and alerting the guards that weren’t all that far from their camp. As if to test his ability to remain quiet, Geralt began to bob his head, and Jaskier had to admit that this was the most obscene thing he’d ever seen. Despite his efforts, a groan managed to slip out. Geralt chuckled, which sent vibrations through Jaskier’s cock. 

“Oh, fuck,” Jaskier whimpered, head falling back against the bedroll. If it hadn’t been for Geralt’s tight grip on his waist, he would’ve jolted deeper into Geralt’s mouth.

The longer Geralt’s mouth and tongue continued to toy with Jaskier, the more warmth built in his loins like a wave on the verge of cresting. Just when he felt as if he was about to fall apart, Geralt let go of him with a dull pop. 

“You really need to stop doing that to me,” Jaskier rasped, doing his best to act irritated and failing.

Geralt raised an eyebrow at him with an amused grin. “How long do you want this to last?”

Jaskier opened his mouth to make a snide remark, then noticed that Geralt had begun to unlace his own breeches, and the words died on his tongue as anticipation took over his mind. Geralt shot him a playful smirk when he noticed Jaskier’s silence before turning his focus back to his task. Jaskier watched with bated breath as Geralt finally removed his pants, at last relieving himself of all of his clothing.

It should have been no surprise that Geralt was a magnificent sight, considering that he’d seen the witcher without clothing before, but Jaskier was still struck speechless. The fire of his need only grew. Jaskier dusted the sand off his hands on the bedroll before pushing himself back up, until he and Geralt were sitting chest to chest, their shafts brushing against each other. He wrapped his arms around Geralt’s broad shoulders and gave him another slow kiss, as Geralt took his hand to guide it down his chest. 

“Are you sure you want to go further?” Geralt questioned, his lips still brushing against Jaskier’s.

Jaskier nodded. “I don’t think I have it in me to wonder what this night might have been like if we stop now. So please, don’t make me.”

Their lips reconnected while Geralt led Jaskier's fingers towards his cock. The moment Jaskier gently grasped his length, giving it an exploratory tug, Geralt groaned into his mouth. When he received another grunt of pleasure, Jaskier picked up his pace, only barely catching onto the fact that one of the witcher's hands had left his body. At the sound of glass clinking together, Jaskier leaned away to find Geralt blindly searching through his bag of vials.

"Is now really the time for potions?" Jaskier questioned, only joking a bit. 

"I'm not looking for a potion," Geralt explained, yanking the bag closer to himself to have a good look. A second later, he pulled out a bottle of white paste, and before Jaskier could ask, Geralt told him, "It's coconut oil."

"What do you need that for?"

Geralt rolled his eyes, but a fond expression remained on his face. "Use your imagination."

“Ah, right. I didn’t think about that,” Jaskier murmured as he felt his whole face heat up at both his own foolishness and the implications that the small container of oil posed.

He had heard stories in passing that humans used it to make things like sex easier, but it seemed like just a story considering that merpeople’s bodies naturally supplied lubrication on their own. It was clear now that those stories were actually quite true.

Geralt chuckled as he took Jaskier's hand once more, turned it palm-up before scooping some of the creamy balm out, and using his own fingertips to work it into more of a liquid. Now that both of their hands were glistening and slippery to the touch, they took hold of each other’s cocks and began working one another's length. Jaskier had little to no tolerance when it came to receiving a lot of stimulation; considering he had never done this before. He fell forward against the witcher's torso and started to shudder. Still, Geralt had to admit that he found it rather amusing.

"You have to be one of the most sensitive people I've ever come across," Geralt pointed out with a grin as he stilled his hand.

"Well, not everyone can be as experienced as you are."

Geralt let out a dry laugh as he shook his head. "I'm not saying that it’s a bad thing. I actually like that about you. You never seem to hold back anything, and I certainly don’t want you to now.”

“Well, if I don’t hold back at least a little bit, it’ll probably alert the guards,” Jaskier pointed out with a mischievous little grin.

“Oh, shut up,” Geralt murmured as he pressed Jaskier back down onto the bedroll and began to place open-mouthed kisses and bites along the side of his throat. Once he reached the other man's ear, he whispered, "Let's get you ready."

Before Jaskier could even become curious at the witcher's words, one of Geralt's fingers grazed his entrance.

Geralt must have caught the way his eyes widened slightly because he questioned, "Do you not know how this--"

"Of course I know how this works," Jaskier cut him off in a flustered rush. "There are plenty of merpeople that do exactly what we're about to do."

Geralt placed a small kiss to the corner of his mouth and made it clear that he understood what was going through Jaskier's mind. "You're nervous about it, though."

Jaskier raked a hand over his face and then into his hair as he mumbled, "Well, what do you expect from someone that's never done this sort of thing before?"

"Don't worry; we'll take this as slow as you need it to be. The last thing I want to do is break you," Geralt reassured. He pressed the tip of his finger in ever so slightly before softly adding, "At least not that way."

Throughout the whole process of stretching him out, Jaskier felt as if his heart was about to burst out of his chest from the way it began to race. His nerves seemed to dance on the edge that divided pain from pleasure the more Geralt prepped him. By the time the witcher deemed him ready, Jaskier was panting. 

A hush fell over everything as Geralt positioned his tip at Jaskier’s entrance; even the sound of the sea itself seemed to be muffled. Their eyes locked for a moment, Geralt asking for permission and Jaskier giving it. Jaskier inhaled deeply at the strange feeling of being entered by something much thicker than two fingers, but it wasn’t enough for him to need to ask Geralt to stop. When Geralt reached the point of bottoming out, they both stilled, heaving in several breaths while adjusting to each other. After several minutes, they both relaxed enough for Geralt to move. His movements were slow and shallow, but it was enough to have Jaskier letting out a breathy sigh as he grasped Geralt’s forearms. 

Even though it was a gradual build, Geralt managed to set a pace that made it very clear that they weren’t simply fucking. This was a confession that neither could make out loud; this was another way of them saying goodbye.

“Oh my  _ gods _ ,” Jaskier whimpered as Geralt’s cock brushed against something inside him that made his knees shake.

Geralt gave him a knowing little smile before repeating the action over and over, to the point Jaskier had to bite his thumb to keep himself from crying out. The witcher increased the speed of his thrusts, but only slightly, groaning in delight when Jaskier’s expression morphed into a state of bliss. Jaskier felt as if he were falling apart and being mended back together at the same time. It was like the land and the sea were meeting for the first time, overwhelming both of them with their polarizing presences, yet somehow finding that they were meant to touch like this. All of his poetic thoughts fell by the wayside when Geralt wrapped his fingers around Jaskier’s shaft and began stroking him at the same pace as his thrusts. 

“Getting close,” Geralt growled, as his free hand went from gripping Jaskier’s thigh to trailing up his stomach and then to his chest, doing his best to avoid the still-healing scratch marks there.

Just watching the look on Geralt’s face would have been enough to push Jaskier over the edge at that point, but it was the sudden deep grind of the tip of Geralt’s cock against that overly sensitive spot inside of him and his warm, slightly-oiled hand on his length that did it. Jaskier let out a low moan as his whole body tensed up, and he came all over Geralt’s fist. Then from the sudden tightness around his shaft, Geralt reached his own peak seconds later, groaning Jaskier’s name through his teeth.

Geralt rolled off of Jaskier onto the other bedroll before he had the chance to collapse on top of him a few moments later. They both lay there for several minutes, gasping for air, and then to Jaskier’s surprise, Geralt grabbed the edge of the bedroll to pull Jaskier right next to him. They were sticky from sweat and cum, sand clinging to their bodies, but neither of them could care less. They tangled their limbs together, still caught in the afterglow. It wasn’t much longer after Geralt draped a blanket over both of their bare forms that they fell asleep, uncaring of the morning to come. 

Jaskier woke up to the sun in his face-- or at least he thought he had, until he cracked his eyelids open to find a silhouette standing over him. His heart only had a second to leap at the sight before he heard a familiar voice.

“I had a feeling that this might happen,” Yennefer remarked in an amused tone, but swiftly shifted to a more somber sound. “Whenever you’re ready, I have the potion that should turn you back into a merman.”

The light, floating feeling Jaskier had woken up with drifted away at her words. This was it. This was where he would have to say farewell to his short time as a human and the two who had grown to mean more to him than he’d ever expected. 

“Alright, just give me a moment,” Jaskier mumbled as he sat up.

Yen nodded and turned towards Roach and Storm to allow him a bit of privacy as he slid on his pants, knowing that there wasn’t any point in a shirt now. He was honestly surprised that Geralt had slept through Yennefer’s arrival, considering that usually, any noise would wake the witcher. As soon as he finished getting himself together, he turned to find that Geralt was now, in fact, awake and watching him with an unreadable expression. 

“Good morning,” Jaskier murmured, unsure of what else there was to say right then, but then he glanced over to the bag that held his lute and added, “I guess you’ll have to find some else to give that to now. After all, water isn’t good for lutes.”

Geralt gave him a sad sort of smile as he lifted himself up onto his elbows, causing the covers to slip off of his chest and onto his lap. His gaze trailed over Jaskier in such an intense way that Jaskier wanted nothing more than to crawl back under that blanket and have a repeat of last night.

“So the next time I’ll see you, you’ll be a king, won’t you?” Geralt questioned as he got himself together. 

“If we ever see each other again.”

Geralt hummed in acknowledgment and gave a small nod, noticeably refusing to meet Jaskier’s eyes. Jaskier knew that this had to be hurting Geralt too, but it felt wrong to give him false hope that they would see each other again. 

“Alright, now that you two are dressed, where do you want to do this?” Yennefer questioned as she risked peering over her shoulder.

“Hold on a minute, Yen,” Jaskier replied, before turning back to Geralt. He didn’t want this to be how their last interaction ended. He didn’t want the last thing he saw in the witcher’s eyes to be the mixture of anger and heartache that he saw now. “Geralt, please--”

Geralt shook his head, making Jaskier fall silent. “It’s alright. We both have obligations that we have to abide by. We can’t let this get in the way of that. This is the way it has to be.”

Jaskier hung his head. He knew that the other man was right, but that didn’t make him hate it any less. He made sure to blink the tears out of his eyes as he turned face Yen once more, finding that she was already watching him with a sympathetic look on her face. 

She approached him with a bottle of dark liquid in hand, and when she reached him, she placed a soft hand on his shoulder, leaning in to whisper, “We don’t have to do this, you know. We can try to find a different way to help your people.”

“We don’t have time to figure out any other options. This is the only way to keep everything from getting worse.”

“Do you have any idea how you’re going to get the throne back?”

“Just showing up should be enough. It’s rightfully mine, after all.”

“I hope you’re right,” Yen murmured before holding out the vial to him. “We should probably go stand closer to the water, considering you won’t be able to walk in a moment.” 

Jaskier nodded in agreement, and they made their way to the shore. It felt strange to feel the tide rush up over his feet, but he gave himself a second to relish it, knowing that this foreign feeling was soon to be a memory. His gaze drifted from the vast expanse of the sea back to Geralt, and the moment their eyes locked, Geralt gave him a small nod. He knew that would be the closest to a goodbye that he was going to get from Geralt. Jaskier took one last deep breath, inhaling the salty breeze, before uncorking the bottle and downing it in one gulp.

It started as a slight stiffness in his legs before his knees buckled under his weight, and Yen had to catch him. She eased him down onto the wet sand, disregarding her dark dress, which brought back an old memory of the first time he’d met Irena. It felt as if his head was swimming already as another wave rushed up to collide with them, and then he saw that Geralt was now kneeling beside her. 

“What’s happening to him?” Geralt questioned as he pushed some of Jaskier’s damp hair back from his forehead.

“He’s turning back,” Yen answered without taking her eyes off of Jaskier. “Let’s just hope that this doesn’t hurt him as much as it did when he became human.”

Jaskier had to admit that this was nothing like the time before, where it felt as if he was being ripped in half. This time, there was a strange warmth coursing through him, and it felt more like he was being mended, but at the same time, he was totally unable to move. The only thing that did actually hurt was his calves, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

“Legs hurt,” he managed to mutter, hoping that they would get the point.

Geralt peered down and then pulled out a small blade from his pocket before lifting one of Jaskier’s legs into his lap. Jaskier was shocked to see that his leg and foot had started expanding and Geralt had to hurry to use what little room remained to cut the inner seams of his pants. With every bit of space it gave him, his legs began to restore themselves back into a familiar shape. Yen made sure to avert her gaze when they reached his more intimate parts. Geralt had to be careful but swift as he raced the magic that was climbing up Jaskier’s body. The material parted just in time as his tail fully formed, and his shimmery white scales winked at him in the bright sun.

“How do you feel?” Yen asked as she looked him over, seeming to be searching for any sign that something had gone wrong with the potion. 

“Fine, it’s just a little odd to be like this again.”

Yennefer nodded and then turned her attention to Geralt. “Can you help me get him further into the water? The sun isn’t good for him anymore.”

Geralt then wordlessly scooped Jaskier up into his arms, only struggling slightly since the length of his tail made balancing him somewhat awkward. Jaskier couldn’t stop himself from taking in the details of Geralt’s face, lingering the longest on his golden eyes, knowing that would be what he was going to miss the most. 

Those eyes turned down to meet his stare. The mask of emotionlessness seemed to slip from the witcher’s face long enough to expose the longing they clearly both felt. 

“Be careful out there,” he murmured.

He began to ease Jaskier into the sea. Right before Geralt let go of him, Jaskier stole one last kiss. Geralt returned the gesture, and before Jaskier could decide to just call off the whole thing, he slipped out of the other man’s arms. It took him a few minutes to readjust himself to using his tail and fins, but he paused to turn back to see Yen now standing next to Geralt as they watched him. Jaskier sent them a wave before sinking beneath the surface. He immediately noticed several colossal dark shapes just in the distance. It took him a moment for his eyes to adjust enough to make out the tangle of tentacles, and he realized that there was a wall of krakens blocking the path out to the sea. 

“Don’t attack me,” Jaskier ordered, but even to his own ears, it sounded more like a plea. The krakens made no move towards him as he gradually grew closer to them; in fact, they all seemed to be sleeping, and he wondered if they were only there to keep ships and humans out. Now feeling a bit braver, Jaskier approached them, commanding, “Let me through.”

The beasts seemed to all open their eyes at once. Before he had a chance to even flinch, Jaskier was wrapped up in the tangle of their many arms. That tingling panic came over him. Now he knew that it was his strange magic coming to his aid. Jaskier pushed the energy out, hoping that it would stun the krakens enough to release him. Bright blue burst from his hands, making several krakens cry out, and a few tentacles retreated. 

Unfortunately, it also enraged the rest of them as they thrust him up out of the water. He only had enough time to let out an incoherent scream for help before they slammed him back down against the water. He scrambled to free his arms as he forced out another pulse of magic, but that just made the krakens tighten their grip on him. A horrible thought flashed through his mind; he was feeling what Irena had felt the day she died. The tingle in his veins felt like lightning as he told himself that he wasn’t going to die like this. Not when so much was at stake, not when he had fought this hard to get back. He had sacrificed too much to be taken down this way.

He gave one last push, and the krakens were blown back from him as ink and blood clouded the water. Jaskier had no choice but to surface if he wanted to have any chance of navigating his way back to the kingdom. To his astonishment, he spotted Geralt and Yennefer running into the sea to help him in the fight. Clearly aware of the two new intruders, the krakens wasted no time launching an attack on them as well. Yen stuck a hand in the water, making the dark cloud in it disappear by having leech into her palms. It allowed them a better chance of seeing what was coming at them. Seconds later, an arm launched itself at her, and she swiftly directed her magic towards it. At the same time, Geralt was hacking through the limbs of the krakens left and right with both of his swords, the way he fought appearing almost effortless.

Jaskier was so wrapped up in watching the other two fighting off the krakens that he nearly missed the tentacle darting in his direction. He shot a bolt of magic at it just as it brushed the tip of his fins. The tentacle changed course, heading straight for Yennefer, who was in the middle of using a wave to push back a kraken that had gotten much too close. Jaskier managed to direct another bolt at the tentacle just before it reached Yen, making it recoil in obvious pain. 

Her violet eyes darted in his direction to gape at him in awe as she demanded, “Since when can you do that?”

“It’s kind of a new thing that I’ve been working on!” Jaskier shouted back as he skirted past another tentacle. 

“Alright then, new plan!” Yen yelled back as she ran deeper into the water. “We can buy you some time by distracting them. Now go!”

With that, Yennefer threw out her hand, making a spinning portal of water just to Jaskier’s left. He gave it a wary look before calling out, “I thought you said that I couldn’t handle taking any more portals?”

“You can if you’re able to do that!”

Jaskier chose to take her word on it, seeing as he didn’t have any other options, and leaped through the ring. He was stunned when he came out of the other side, just beyond the wall of krakens. Wasting no time to try to understand why he merely felt dizzy this time around, he plunged into the sea, hoping that there were no more surprises waiting for him along the way to the kingdom.

He slowly became aware that there was something different about the sea now. There was a strange stillness to the water surrounding him, and the closer he got to the kingdom, it dawned on him as to why. The plant life was much sparser, the few fish around darted out of sight when they saw him, and worst of all, most of the coral appeared to be dying. What had happened without his father around to keep things in balance? What had his brother done?

By the time he reached the settlements of his kingdom, he saw that even the glow of the sea angels was dimmer. That made him instantly think of Tasi. Where was his friend now? Were they alright? As Jaskier swam closer to his home, he made sure to keep an eye out for any sign of Tasi’s flickering light.

The closer he got to the castle, he caught sight of several guards patrolling the front tunnels, and he had a feeling that they wouldn’t be too willing to let him inside. So Jaskier ducked out of sight, taking a more dark and winding path towards the back of the castle. As he snuck through the area, he noticed that most of the merpeople swimming around looked sickly and underfed. He frowned at the sight and found himself feeling guilty for having even considered not coming back here to help, but this was much worse than he had ever imagined. Before any of them could have a chance to feel his eyes lingering on them, Jaskier bolted into one of the shadowy tunnels that lead into the castle's base. 

As soon as he was inside the passageway, he saw that this was the exact one he had met Tasi in for the first time. It was as if merely thinking that was a beacon that Jaskier didn’t know he was letting out because a moment later, a small sea angel darted up to him and smacked him right between the eyes.

‘Jaskier! You're alive! You're back!’ Tasi blinked rapidly as they swam in dizzying circles in front of Jaskier.

Jaskier let out a small chuckle as he nodded. “I guess I am.”


	10. Chapter 10

The two of them made sure to hide themselves away in a dark corner of the castle once they had snuck inside. Oddly, it almost felt like the old times when they used to do this purely for the fun of it, just with a bigger threat of danger.

“What happened to this place?” Jaskier questioned in a whisper as soon as he felt safe enough to do so. 

‘It’s only recently gotten this bad. It’s mostly because the krakens have been used to guard the shoreline and not help with any other task. The kingdom doesn’t have enough merpeople to make up for the loss of not having them around. Valdo and Edyta have made it clear that they don’t care about messing with the delicate balance of our world.’ 

“What happened to my father?”

‘He sent out a search party as soon as he realized that you weren’t coming home that night. After that, they searched for you for nearly a month before Queen Edyta made him stop. She had said that you probably found somewhere to hide so you wouldn’t have to face the task of becoming king, and since there was no trace of you, she suggested that you must’ve been eaten by a shark.’

Jaskier let out a bitter laugh, “Of course she would say something like that.”

‘King Aldric kept more to himself after that, much to the Queen’s displeasure. They started fighting a lot after that, and I did my best to distract Ciri from it, but I could tell that it was still bothering her. So since all of my focus was on her, it took me a while to notice that the King had started to get very ill, and before anyone knew it, he was gone. No one could figure out what had caused him to get so sick out of nowhere, but I did come across several dead eels around that time just outside of the kingdom. They appeared to have been skinned and drained of their blood.’

“He was poisoned,” Jaskier muttered to himself, and without giving it a second thought, he raced to the throne room, knowing that had to be where he’d find his brother. 

In his haste, Jaskier managed to gain the attention of several of the guards as he barreled through the castle pathways. 

“Was that who I think it is?” one of them questioned from somewhere behind Jaskier.

“There’s no way! He’s supposed to be dead!” another argued, but was swiftly silenced by someone else yelling over him.

“It doesn’t matter! Whoever they are, they’re still an intruder! Let’s go!”

Jaskier pushed his tail to propel him faster, knowing that he only had a little bit of a head start. So by the time he made it to the throne room, there was a torrent of bubbles behind him as he burst into the room. Everyone inside let out a collective gasp at his sudden appearance. Jaskier’s gaze remained locked on Valdo, who had just been speaking in hushed tones to his new queen, a mermaid he recalled to be named Delphine, but now he could only gawk at Jaskier. 

“It’s good to you again too, your highness,” Jaskier seethed as he smirked at Valdo, who seemed to be regaining his sense of composure. 

That’s when the guards finally caught up to him, and Valdo shouted, “Seize him!”

Jaskier shot a bolt of his lightning-like magic at the floor, hating that he had to make a split in the coral, but he needed to make a point quickly. “Don’t come any closer.”

The guards surrounding him hesitated, casting each other hurried glances as if to wordlessly ask what to do next. Now the very essence of the room felt charged with a restless sort of energy as they all appeared to wait for someone to make the next move. 

“Jaskier? You really are here!” Ciri’s voice cried out as she flitted past the guards to bolt over to him, crashing into him with a tight hug. “Tasi said that you were here, and I had to come to see for myself. I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Jaskier returned the strong embrace as he felt his chest tighten; he hadn’t realized just how much he had missed his younger sister. Out of the corner of his eye, Jaskier saw one of the guards cautiously raise up his triton, but Edyta rushed over to him, pressing down the weapon with a swift hand.

“Don’t he might harm Princess Cirilla,” she warns in a low voice as if she was trying to keep Jaskier from hearing her.

“Do you honestly think I would do anything to hurt her?” he demanded as he glared daggers at his stepmother. “Do you truly think that I could be anything like you or Valdo? I don’t kill people to get my way.”

Her eyes momentarily flashed at that. “I don’t know what you’re trying to imply, but your brother and I have never done anything of that sort.”

“Unlike you,” Valdo interjected as he rose from the throne, bringing a menacing triton along. “You were the one that cost that human girl’s life and brought my people to the brink of war. Is that why you vanished for so long, Julian?”

“Is that what you’ve been telling everyone?” Jaskier questioned with a sharp laugh while shaking his head. “I can’t say that I’m surprised, though. There’s no way the merpeople of this kingdom would follow your rule if they knew the truth, right?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. The crown is now rightfully mine.”

“We both know that isn’t true. It’s meant to belong to me. It’s tradition, and you can’t change that.”

“As the new king, I can do whatever I wish. Besides, tradition never took into account for the return of a dead prince.”

“There are still laws-”

“And I abided by them!” Valdo cut him off in a shout as he slammed the base of the triton to the floor. “After you disappeared and our father died, I took the place that was supposed to be mine from the start!”

“You got there by killing the people that were in your way!”

“I wasn’t about to allow a human girl to be our queen! What happened with our father was an accident!” 

A ringing sort of silence fell over the room as the guards turned their gazes from Jaskier to Valdo. It was obvious that they had no idea what he was talking about and a low murmur began to fill the void. These guards had served their father for many years, they had all always been close, it seemed that they didn’t feel the same way for Valdo. 

“Does that mean he killed King Aldric, too?” one of the guards questioned.

“That’s what it sounds like to me,” another responded.

“So what do we do now? Should he be charged with regicide?”

“I don’t think we can since he’s now the king, but with Prince Julian back, who knows.” 

In a moment of enraged passion, Valdo had made the mistake of revealing himself, and he instantly started scrambling to recover by continuing to shout at Jaskier. “I did what had to be done for the sake of our kingdom! Can you say that you’ve ever done something like that?”

“Why do you think I came back?” 

From the look on Valdo’s face, that expression of contempt and fury, Jaskier could tell that his brother knew that he was right. That, for once in his life, Jaskier would most likely have the merpeople of the Great Sea on his side.

Valdo let out a roar of outrage as he charged at Jaskier with the triton aimed at Jaskier’s chest. 

Jaskier shoved Ciri out of the way and ordered, “Get out of here! Go somewhere safe!”

Ciri darted out of the throne room, and in that moment of distraction, the weapon sliced into the side of Jaskier’s tail, only managing to miss his ribs by a second of movement. Jaskier shot a hasty burst of magic at Valdo, blowing the other merman back and deflecting another slash from the triton.

“What are you waiting for?” Valdo demanded as he pushed himself off of the wall. “He attacked me! Defend your king!”

“You’re no king of mine,” a guard that had previously been silent declared and swam out without another word. 

The rest of the royal guard gawked after the departing merman, before one by one, following his example.

“Fine,” Valdo seethed as he readied the triton for his next attack. “I’ll do it myself.”

“No, you aren’t doing this alone,” Edyta declared as she retched away the spear that Delphine had been clutching to her chest and hurtled it straight at Jaskier. 

Jaskier threw up his hands to force out another bolt of magic to block it, but nothing came out of his palms. The spear cut Jaskier’s shoulder deep, and he barely had time to duck as Valdo took another swing at him. Seeing no other option, Jaskier fled the room in search of something else to defend himself with. He didn’t even bother to attempt to stop the bleeding from his wounds as he raced through the tunnels of the castles, but that meant he left a bright red trail behind him, making him easy to track. Realizing this, Jaskier found the nearest escape from the castle and made a break for it.

He hadn’t thought that Edyta would join in on the fight against him. Jaskier knew that she hated him, but he didn’t think it would’ve been enough for her to actually harm him. He knew that without the aid of his magic or a weapon, that he was as good as dead with the two of them after him. After all, who would bother to aid him? Who was going to try to fight against the royal family?

Jaskier ducked under a shadowy alcove, finally able to clamp his hands over his wounds, praying to the gods that it would be enough to keep him hidden. He forced himself to be as still as a stone as Valdo and Edyta passed overhead; he had concealed himself just in time.

Something then caught his attention, and even though he had to strain his ears, he could faintly make out Valdo’s voice. “We should head to the west side of the kingdom; he’ll probably hide there since it’s so heavily populated.”

“I doubt that, he would stick out easily there with his coloring.”

“You’re right. Should we go to the east then?”

“I would normally suggest that we send out the guards as a search party, but seeing as you’ve turned them against you, that’s out of the question.”

Valdo sighed heavily, “I wish I had just listened to you more carefully that day. Then I wouldn’t have mixed up the orders of what was meant to be food for the dolphins and for us.”

“We all fell ill that day, it just so happened that your father ate much more than the rest of us. You can’t keep blaming yourself for making a single mistake. The result was unfortunate, but it’s not as if they were your intentions. I suggest we split up and find Julian that way. Then we’ll deal with him once we have him back in the castle.”

That struck Jaskier as odd, giving eels to the dolphins was a rare treat considering how dangerous their blood could be to merpeople. In fact, they were never supposed to be allowed inside of the castle in the first place because of that. Jaskier knew that it couldn’t have been just a simple mistake; making something like that happen took planning. On top of that, Jaskier recalled what Tasi had said about finding some without their skin, and he had never known anyone to not feed the dolphins whole eels. So someone was clearly trying to make them appear to be something else. He decided to save those suspicions for later when he wasn’t trying to keep himself from getting killed.

Now that he had dolphins in mind, an idea came to him, and he risked peering out of the alcove. He made sure to scour his surroundings before sneaking towards the other side of the exterior of the castle, finding the pod of dolphins that they kept for riding purposes, which no one ever used because most of them were too unruly. Jaskier knew that he didn’t have any other option right then but to escape and regroup himself. Maybe he would even go back to the shore and see if, by some chance, Yennefer and Geralt were still there, and they could aid him. He hated that he still had to depend on someone else to get him out of trouble, but it wasn’t worth dying just to be able to say that he did it all on his own.

Jaskier mounted one of the more docile looking dolphins and gently prodded it with his tail. The creature took off like he might as well have whipped it, sending him careening out into the open. He pressed on the dolphin’s sides, trying to get it to lower and out of sight, but a sudden familiar shout told him that there would be no use now.

“Ah, there you are, dear brother!”

Jaskier’s head whipped over his shoulder, finding that Valdo was riding up on a dolphin too, and they were gaining on them. He desperately urged the dolphin he was riding to pick up the pace, while he strained to force his unpredictable magic one last helping hand. He threw out his arm and yet again, received no blue burst of energy. Letting out a frustrated growl, Jaskier turned his focus back on trying to lose his brother by directing the dolphin to nose dive into a nearby trench. Despite the darkness now engulfing them, he found that his scales still managed to catch what tiny bit of light they could. So he steered the animal down even deeper. 

“You can’t hide from me, Julian!” Valdo shouted, right behind him now. “Not with that blinding tail of yours!”

Jaskier cursed under his breath as he frantically searched for some sort of turn to take to at least put some distance between the two of them. As a jerk reaction, Jaskier yanked the dolphin upwards, only just dodging a stab from Valdo’s triton. Jaskier’s dolphin then let out a terrified shriek from the sudden attack and began to swim at a startling speed. He had no choice but to cling to the dolphin as it did it’s best to escape the threat. Peeking over his shoulder, he saw Valdo giving a swift smack to the dolphin he rode upon, prompting the fish to catch up, yet again the distance between them was growing smaller by the second. Jaskier silently pleaded with the gods to help him, and he pressed on the magic once more. A weak blast escaped his palm, but it was enough to knock Valdo off of his dolphin, and the animal swiftly retreated in fear.

He used this advantage to head back to the shore, and the closer he got, the dirty the water appeared. A mass amount of blood, ink, and bits of kraken bobbed around in the waves as he reached the sandbar. It was just past the rocks where he had seen Irena for the first and last time. As they broke the surface, the air stung against his still bleeding injuries, adding his own bright red blood to the clouded water. His eyes scanned the beach in search of either Yen or Geralt when he felt something suddenly brush against the edge of his fin. 

Jaskier ripped his tail out of the water as soon as he caught sight of a shark’s dorsal fin and slammed it back down where he hoped he’d hit its gills. His tail struck the shark sharply in the side, making it leave him alone, but that didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be more to follow soon.

“Geralt!” Jaskier cried out as he dragged himself onto the sand. “Yennefer!” 

The dolphin he had ridden in on bolted back into the deep now that it knew that sharks were nearby, leaving Jaskier practically stranded, but at least now his blood has stopped flowing so freely. Jaskier called out for help several more times, but it didn’t take him long to realize that help wasn’t coming. He frantically tried to think of what to do next, tried to come up with a plan, anything at all to salvage the mess he was in. The sun's burn on his skin and scales soon made itself known, making him realize that in his time of being human, he had nearly forgotten about the harm it used to cause him. His fingertips skirted across the patches of scarring in his chest, making him remember his time of being fully exposed to the sun in a bewitched bubble. How had he come so far and still managed to lose?

An abnormal shift in the waves pulled his mind back into focus. He only had enough time to scream in surprise before the arm of a kraken raked him back into the sea. Through the haze of sand and the murky water, Jaskier spotted a figure heading straight at him, and no matter what it actually was, he knew that it wouldn’t be anything good. Jaskier thrashed around and clawed at the tentacle, even though he knew that it was all being done in vain as the kraken thrust him up into the air before slamming him back to the water. It felt as if Jaskier might as well have fallen out of a tree from the force of the impact, and he feared this was the way he was going to meet his end. 

“Enough! Put him down,” Valdo commanded as he rose from the water with his triton still clutched in hand, the sunlight winking off of the golden dagger-like prongs as he pointed it at the beast in warning. “He’s not getting out of this that easily.”

The kraken dropped Jaskier from its grasp, making it clear that the creature couldn’t care less as it drifted away from the shore. Valdo was upon him before Jaskier had the chance to move at all, and Valdo held the curved blade of the triton so close to his throat, knowing that if he breathed too deeply, that would be the end of it. Jaskier then merely shut his eyes and waited for a swift pull or a plunge, refusing to give his brother any joy out of his death. At least, that way it might be over sooner, and at last, that weight he had been carrying inside of him for so long would vanish with him. 

“Take your blade off of his throat,” A gruff voice demanded.

The sound of it nearly made Jaskier exclaim his name out of sheer relief and gratitude as his eyes flew open to find Geralt. The witcher stood there with his sword at the ready, but Jaskier could see the worry lingering in his eyes.

“Take one step closer, and I will slit his throat,” Valdo warns as he makes him and Jaskier drift further back into the water before speaking in Elder, “Take care of the witcher.”

Jaskier was only confused for less than a second before a kraken burst out of the water, swinging several of its thick tentacles right at Geralt. He ducked and rolled out of the way just before one of the arms slammed down against the dry sand, and then he hastily maneuvered himself back around to strike out at the beast. 

“Well, now that your protector is a bit tangled up, I believe it’s time you and I settled this,” Valdo murmured in his ear.

“What is there even left to settle?” Jaskier rasped, careful not to move his neck as he spoke while an idea suddenly formed in his mind. “You’ve clearly gotten your way, why can’t we just call a truce? Let me go with Geralt, and you can carry on with being king.”

“Why the sudden change of heart?”

“You’d be surprised by how persuasive a blade to the throat can be.”

“What would be in it for you? You never do anything unless there’s something for you to gain. What do you want out of this?”

Jaskier wanted to point out that it was more the other way around, but he wasn’t in the position to correct his brother. He hoped that if he got Valdo to agree to his idea and that no one else would have to get hurt.

“I want you to find a way to make peace with the humans living on the shore, so that way you can bring things back to the way it’s meant to be in the kingdom. If you keep this up, you won’t have anything left to rule over when it all dies out.”

“What’s the point of being cordial with their kind when all they know how to do is destroy? Maybe they could use the guidance of a king with a perspective, unlike their own.”

“You know that they would never stand for that.”

Valdo gave a hum of agreement. “You have a point. I mean, look at what they managed to make your friend Geralt into, a human whose sole purpose is to kill things like us without even flinching. How did you manage to gain the trust of someone like that?”

“You’re wrong, that’s far from all that he is. He trusts me because he and I are the same. Everyone disregards us and assumes we are a lot of things that we aren’t. I think you should learn our kind and the humans aren’t that different at all. There’s no need for you to try to take control of them, just let them be and just let me leave.”

“Aw,” Valdo cooed in a mocking tone. “You’ve started to have feelings for him, haven’t you? Did you both bond over being outcasts in your own worlds and fall for each other in the process? Well, isn’t that sweet, but so sad considering you both aren’t going to make it out of this.”

A wave of rage crested inside of Jaskier at that as an inhuman roar ripped through his chest, and without even trying, a blast of magical energy exploded out of him. Jaskier and Valdo were blown apart from each other by several feet, but even in his state of disorientation, Valdo scrambled to grab his triton yet again. Jaskier was ready for him this time as he caught the handle of the triton before Valdo could strike him with it. Valdo bared his teeth and attempted to yank the triton away from his brother in the same moment that Jaskier thrust it towards him to keep it back. The point of the blade dug into the flesh just above Valdo’s ribcage, taking a bit of it out of him in the struggle. 

Blood began to pour from his wound, and Jaskier instantly began to worry that the shark might return because the smell of it had to be overwhelming the water. He risked a glance down at the hazy water, in search of any dark shapes in the sea around them.

“So what were you hoping for when you first came back? That you could have the throne and somehow still keep your witcher? You can’t have it both ways,” Valdo pointed out, completely disregarding his heavily bleeding wound.

“I didn’t intend to, I came back to help save my kingdom.”

“Well, isn’t it unfortunate for your noble sacrifice that I’ll be the one to win in the end.”

Something off in the distance caught Jaskier’s attention, he could hear Ciri’s voice shouting, and then he saw the shapes of a flock of merpeople behind her. Valdo even turned to watch what appeared to be the entire population of merpeople following behind their younger sister. They cheered after she called out something else to them, and Jaskier found himself smiling brightly.

“It looks like it doesn’t matter anymore if you win or not,” Jaskier remarks as he nods toward the approaching crowd. “They are her people now. I think they have been for a long time. The kingdom of the Great Sea should belong to Ciri.”

“But she can’t! That’s against our laws and traditions!” Valdo protested even though Jaskier knew that he could see the fact that it didn’t seem to matter to any of the other merpeople.

“Maybe it’s time we changed some things. It might do us all some good.”

“Why are you all so determined to keep me from ruling? Is the idea of me being king so horrible that you would change age-old traditions just to keep me off of the throne?”

“Look at what you’ve done in such a short time, Valdo! You have brought the kingdom further than it has ever been, and you seem to refuse to see that.”

“Sacrifices have to be made!”

“For what? For more power?” Jaskier demanded, but all of the fury drained out of him when he felt the rough shape of the side of a shark’s body brush against him, and then two more fins breached the water behind it. 

Without putting any thought into it, Jaskier rammed one of his hands in the water, using his magic to push back the predators. In his haste, though, the burst of energy blew Valdo back as well. Jaskier only had enough time to gasp as he realized what he had just done before a thick cloud crimson bloomed in the spot his brother had landed in. Right as Jaskier went to dive under to save him, a pair of arms trapped him in a vice-like grip.

“If you go out there, you’ll be killed too,” Geralt warns as he refused to let go of Jaskier no matter how much he struggled or pleaded. “Let’s get you out of the water before they decide to come back.” 

Geralt hoisted Jaskier from the sea and carried him up onto the sandbar as Jaskier doubled over in the witcher’s hold, as sobs wracked his body.

“It wasn’t supposed to end like this! I just wanted him to see reason! I didn’t want this!” Jaskier frantically explained as his hands grappled at Geralt’s blood-slicked armor.

“Look at me,” Geralt ordered in a firm, yet quiet voice as he shifted himself into Jaskier’s line of sight to block out the still-growing haze of blood. “I saw what happened, that was an accident. You know it was, but you can’t take that back now. I can’t let you go out there to save someone that was past saving from the second they hit the water. Don’t let what you’ve done go to waste to help something that was already a lost cause. It was just an accident.”

Jaskier could barely hear Geralt over the ringing in his ears, but then it all seemed to come back into a sharp focus when he heard the sound of his stepmother letting out a chilling wail. 

“You murdered him!” She shrieked, and with a look of blinding hate on her face, she began attacking the sharks without concern for her own safety. She stabbed them with the spear at a startling speed for a mermaid of such a small size, making the mist of blood expand and splatter out of the water onto her face and body. “You took everything away from me! You and your wretched fucking father! I gave him everything I had! I even let him keep you, his bastard child, a living mockery of our marriage and our children!”

Edyta was shaking by the time all of the sharks had been slain, their carcasses floating around her like a crown of death. Her cold emerald eyes locked on Jaskier, as she questioned, “Why does it always come back to you? Whenever something goes wrong in my life, somewhere at the root of it, you’re there. I thought so many things would be enough to drive you out, a new child, or the deaths of the women you loved. Even having Valdo make sure that the humans saw that a merman caused the death of that girl wasn’t enough. You’ve still managed to find new ways to ruin my life.”

As she continued to speak, she grew closer, and Geralt got back on his feet, blocking Edyta from her path towards Jaskier. As he took in the state of his stepmother, Jaskier noticed that she had one arm behind her back, and then she saw that he was aware of it.

“Geralt, look out!” Jaskier shouted as Edyta hurled the spear at Geralt, and before he could deflect the weapon, it pierced him in the side before the sheer force of it knocked him down. 

Edyta whipped out Valdo’s triton from behind her back, and Jaskier flipped himself over in a weak attempt to pull himself away, but he saw that it would be useless as she launched it straight at him. Then just in the distance, he saw a figure, but he knew that his eyes had to be deceiving him. Honey brown hair and sky blue eyes came into focus as the woman raced towards him with outstretched hands. 

It was his mother. 

Jaskier instantly wondered if he was now dead, but then he saw the triton sink into the sand far off to his right, away from both him and Geralt. Something had blown it off course. His eyes darted back to his mother, finding that Yennefer was running alongside her. He couldn’t understand how this was possible, but he was overjoyed to see her. Edyta appeared just as astounded, and in her moment of distraction, Geralt tackled her to the shallow sea floor.

“No! They weren’t supposed to let her out!” Edyta protested as she fought against Geralt’s hold.

“Let her out?” Jaskier questioned as he whipped around to face his stepmother. “You knew that she was alive this whole time?”

“You and your father weren’t the only ones that made contact with the humans. I struck a deal with a passing wizard that agreed to capture and keep her until I sent word for what he was to do with her next. He clearly failed to hold up his end of the agreement.”

“Why would you do that?”

She let out a bitter laugh and confessed, “I figured your death or disappearance wouldn’t be as hard to believe that it was of your own accord if you were distraught over your mother’s passing. Then your father started digging around after you were gone and caught word that there was a rumor that Kazimiera had been spotted near a place called Blaviken. Then he received a bit of information that there were stories that a man had been keeping a merman in a bubble, and then they both disappeared. Valdo was so close to finally becoming the next king like he deserved, and I wasn’t about to let Aldric ruin that.”

Valdo’s earlier words to her instantly made sense to him. “You made Valdo think that he was responsible for our father’s death, but it was you who switched the food. You’re the one who poisoned him.”

She cackled hysterically before saying, “It only seemed fair after everything Aldric put me through.”

Jaskier and Edyta had been so caught up in the moment that neither of them had noticed that Ciri and the royal guard were right behind them and they had heard and witnessed the whole event. 

Ciri’s expression shifted from shock to disdain as she said, “Detain her. She has done too much to our kings to be allowed a pardon, even by me.”

Geralt traded Edyta over to the guards as they questioned, “What should we do with her now, your highness?”

Jaskier was shocked that the question was directed at him, but he recovered enough to say, “For now, lock her away for her crimes against the royal family. After that, you should answer to Cirilla about what to do with her after that.”

“What do you mean, your majesty?” Another guard asked.

Jaskier took in a deep breath as he pulled his aching body onto a nearby rock, hoping that he was right about what he had just seen in the merpeople. “Merfolk of the Great Sea! After what I’ve seen today, it’s become clear that things need to change for us all to move forward in a better direction. If she is willing, I would like to propose that Princess Cirilla become your next queen, without the need of a king. This is the most I have ever seen you all unified, and under her rule, I believe you all will return to your former glory and surpass it!”

The merpeople burst into cheers as Jaskier turned to his sister. “What do you say? Do you want to be Queen?”

Her seafoam green eyes brimmed with tears as she nodded vigorously and hugged Jaskier. He returned the embrace before calling out to the merpeople. “May I introduce to you all your new Queen of the Great Sea, Queen Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon!”

The roar of the merpeople had been loud enough to alert the humans at the shore, which turned out to be a good thing, as they were all able to reach the agreement of going back to living their lives in separate peace, but also agreeing not to ban one another from interacting. 

Jaskier and his mother had a tearful reunion before she explained to him how word had traveled around that the merpeople were on the verge of war with a village of humans and that it seemed to have finally begun. She deployed her escape plan that she had been working on for months, teleported out of her dungeon cell, and then found Yennefer fighting krakens. It was as if Destiny was finally smiling down on Jaskier that day. 

Ciri then brought Tasi to Jaskier while his mother tended to his wounds. “I thought you two would want to have one last proper goodbye before you go.”

Jaskier had been sitting in a wading pool as his mother and Yen worked on healing him, so Ciri placed the tiny sea angel in with him.

“What do you mean?” Jaskier asked Ciri with a furrowed brow. 

Then he caught sight of Tasi blinking out a response, ‘We all know you aren’t going to stay a merman. It isn’t meant for you, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t come to visit from time to time.’

Jaskier smiled tearfully down at his tiny friend and up at his sister. Jaskier wished that their father could’ve been there to see them all, and he found himself hoping that Valdo was somewhere out there with their father finally at peace.

It was as if Ciri was having the same thoughts as she said, “I wish that our other brothers and sisters could see that I’m a queen now.”

Jaskier smiled warmly at her before saying, “I’ll make sure they know when I come across the other seas.”

They continued to discuss the possibilities of the future, and Ciri made Jaskier promise to write songs about this day and make sure that Ciri was seen as an impressive and noble figure. Even as he rolled his eyes at her, he agreed to do just that; there was no other way to describe her better after all.

“Are you ready to do this one last time?” Yen questioned as she and Kazimiera prepared the potion to turn him back into a human. “I promise that I’ve measured the herbs properly, and it won’t hurt this time around.”

Jaskier let out a bright laugh at that and nodded. 

Thankfully, Yennefer had been telling the truth, and his mother had made sure to swiftly portal away and back in the matter of time it took his body to shift with a change of clothes. 

She brought him a turquoise clothing set and remarked, “I was hearing that you were planning to be a bard, you might as well look the part.”

Once he was dressed, he was pleased to find that he had already lost his ability to walk. He told his sister and the merpeople one last goodbye before he, Kazimiera, and Yen made their way to Geralt.

The witcher must have felt all of their eyes on him as he turned away from the group of humans and merpeople he was speaking to, and his eyebrows shot up. He rushed over to Jaskier, pulling him into a deep kiss, clearly uncaring who saw it.

“Does this mean you're going to stay a human?” Geralt questioned when he finally let him go.

Jaskier chuckled, “More or less.”

“I hope you’re ready to deal with him for quite some time,” Yen remarked with a grin before winking at Kazimiera. “I’ve heard that they can be a handful that lives for quite a while.”

Geralt gazed deeply into Jaskier’s eyes as he nodded, “I’m more than ready for that.”

Jaskier couldn’t stop himself from blushing, even though he was delighted to hear it. He had done it, he had found a place for him to belong, to be wanted, and it was right there in the witcher’s arms.

END


End file.
